Women’s soccer hits road for season openers at Nelson, Texas Wesleyan

The UHV women's soccer team is set to open its 15^th season this week.

The Jaguars open their 2024 campaign on the road at Nelson University (formerly SAGU) in Waxahachie on Thursday, Aug. 29, and then at Texas Wesleyan on Saturday, Aug. 31.

After three scrimmages, including an intersquad scrimmage, 15^th-year head coach Adrian Rigby feels excited heading into the first regular season matches of the year.

"There was a lot of positive stuff and I think we improved," Rigby said. "We gave them a new formation, spent time fine-tuning it and then applying it. So, we're excited going into the first weekend."

Part of the new formation mentioned by Rigby is the strike partnership of fifth-year senior Estelle Flanagan, of McKinney, and graduate transfer Kyleigh Spree-Kolos, a Victoria East product from Our Lady of the Lake.

Combined, the two have scored 53 goals in 114 matches. Last year, Flanagan led the Jaguars (6-7-5 in 2023) with seven goals.

"It'll be a learning process through the first few games, but I think there's a lot of excitement with what we saw," Rigby said.

UHV also returns goalkeepers Franciezca Blancaflor, a sophomore, and Hayli Nichols, a senior.

As a freshman, Blancaflor started in seven matches and boasted a 1.08 goals against average with 30 saves and three clean sheets. Nichols made 10 starts with 27 saves and a pair of clean sheets as a junior last year.

"There's been competition in goal between (Blancaflor) and Hayli," Rigby said. "I think we've seen some good growth over the spring getting Fran a little bit more comfortable with the college level, and her communication has improved. She's always been a good shot-stopper, but the biggest part is her confidence and ability to communicate with her back line has improved."

The Jaguars are no stranger to the Lions (1-1) and Rams (1-2).

UHV and Nelson have met eight times before, with the Jaguars holding a 6-1-1 advantage in the all-time series. The two teams played to a thrilling 3-3 draw at The Cage last year with Flanagan, Kaitlyn Kongdara and Katerin Morales, who graduated, each scoring.

UHV and Texas Wesleyan have met seven times previously with the series split 3-3-1 after a 2-2 draw in last year's season opener at The Cage, which featured a debut goal for Kaydee Cox, who returns for her sophomore season.

"Any college game is hard to play and hard to win," Rigby said. "These games are going to be battles from the start. We talked about wanting consistency in our work rate, so we hope to continue with that. We're excited to get up to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and play."