Women’s soccer to open season Thursday against Texas Wesleyan

Thursday will mark the start to the 2023 season for the UHV women's soccer team.

The Jaguars host Texas Wesleyan at 1 p.m. looking to build off a second-place finish in the Red River Athletic Conference last year.

It will be the seventh meeting all-time between UHV (10-3-5 in 2022) and the Rams with each team winning three times. Last year, the Jaguars won 3-1 on the road in Fort Worth thanks to goals from Clara Strand, Estelle Flanagan and Meghan Matcek, whose goal in the 56^th minute served as the winner.

"We had a good preseason. Our returners looked good, and we had some new players step up and compete really well," said head coach Adrian Rigby. "Texas Wesleyan is always a good test. They're always a strong team and you have to play your best against them. We're excited to get the season started."

In 2022, Strand scored 11 goals during her freshman campaign and her 26 points (11 G, 4 A) tied Flanagan's mark in 2021 for the fifth most in a single season at UHV.

Flanagan, a senior from McKinney, ranks third all-time in goals (20) and points (46) at UHV after scoring six goals and four assists last season.

"Clara and Estelle have proven they can be dynamic," Rigby said. "We're really excited about how well they worked with some of the new faces on our team during preseason and what that could mean for our attack."

The Jaguars have enjoyed success recently in season openers, going unbeaten in their last three. Last season they tied 2-2 with Concordia-Texas in the season opener.

Texas Wesleyan enters Thursday with a 1-1 record after a 2-0 win against Jarvis Christian last Saturday to open the season.