Defense a staple for UHV Women’s Soccer entering home opener with Schreiner

The UHV women's soccer team made its defense a priority for the 2024 season.

The Jaguars returned experience on its back line in first team All-Red River Athletic Conference defender Trine Stenderup-Jorgensen, senior defender Ana Maria Munoz and senior goalkeeper Hayli Nichols, as well as the additions of transfers Lauren Kovacevich and Evee Augustine, who have started each of the team's first two matches.

Through two games, that concerted effort to reinforce UHV's back line has paid off with the Jaguars (2-0) posting a pair of 1-0 wins over Nelson University, on Aug. 29, and Wayland Baptist this past Saturday. Head coach Adrian Rigby was also complimentary of the progress made by freshman defender Yuvier Borjas through her first two career starts.

UHV will put its unblemished record on the line Friday, at 1 p.m., when it welcomes NCAA Division III school Schreiner University (1-1-1) to The Cage for the team's home opener and non-conference finale.

"Ultimately, we want to be sound defensively," Rigby said. "Number one, I think you win a lot more games being good defensively than you would offensively in shootout-type games."

Nichols' experience in goal has been paramount to UHV's defensive success so far this year.

Between her time at Dallas College Brookhaven in the NJCAA and UHV, the Forney native has played in 45 matches and boasts a career 0.72 Goals Allowed Average with 26 clean sheets in her collegiate career.

She's started the 2024 season with a pair of clean sheets and was named RRAC Defensive Player of the Week for a second consecutive week on Monday, a start which Nichols attributes to her growth in the position since joining the collegiate ranks.

"It's honestly just practice," Nichols said. "Through my JUCO years, I evolved and now coach Rigby has helped me grow into the style of play we have here and really excel."

While the Jaguars have managed two goals through two games, Rigby is confident the breakthroughs will come.

UHV currently ranks fourth in the RRAC with 11.5 shots per game, with 16 coming in Saturday's win over the Pioneers.

Graduate senior and Victoria native Kyleigh Spree-Kolos netted her first goal for the Jaguars to keep the team's perfect record in tact. Senior Estelle Flanagan leads the team in shots with seven.

"We've had a lot of opportunities on the year," Rigby said. "Against Wayland, we had a lot of chances to put the ball in the back of the net to make it an easier game for us. So, we're going to work on that for the next couple of days and hopefully it can pay off against Schreiner."

Last year, the two teams met at The Cage with the Mountaineers prevailing 1-0.

However, with the team's start to 2024, the Jaguars are confident in the their potential to get a result on Friday.

"Our team is on an upward trend and getting better every game," Nichols said. "So, we're going to go out, work hard and do our best, and hopefully get the results that reflect our hard work."