Women’s soccer back home to face Texas College, Southwest this week

As the season winds down, the games get more and more important.

Staying focused on the next game is the message Texas A&M University-Victoria women's soccer head coach Kimberly Uetrecht has given to her team ahead of this week's home Red River Athletic Conference games against Texas College (1 p.m. Thursday) and University of the Southwest (1 p.m. Saturday).

The Jaguars (5-2-3, 2-1-1) are fifth in the conference standings on seven points, but "laser focus" is needed for A&M-Victoria to continue to challenge for a spot in the conference tournament and the regular season title. The top seven spots in the conference are separated by just six points, showcasing how competitive the RRAC has been through the first two weeks of conference play. A&M-Victoria is three points off a top three spot.

"We have to be laser-focused on the game that's in front of us," Uetrecht said. "We can't get ahead of ourselves because, in such a strong conference, anything can happen. You can't overpredict your performance in a game. You can't overpredict the performance of an opponent in this conference. On any given day, someone can win. We have to just have laser focus on taking care of the team in front of us."

A&M-Victoria wants to keep its momentum rolling after an unbeaten week with a 6-2 win over Jarvis Christian and a 1-1 draw at Texas A&M-Texarkana.

Those results led to a sweep of the RRAC Players of the Week honors as junior forward Ayloni Garcia took home the Offensive award and junior goalkeeper Jamie Noriega earning the Defensive award. It's the second time each player has been recognized by the conference and second sweep by A&M-Victoria.

Noriega took home the award after making a season-high 11 saves against A&M-Texarkana on Saturday. The Dickinson native ranks in the Top 5 in the RRAC in saves (4th, 38), save percentage (2nd, .792), goals allowed (5th, 10) and goals allowed average (3rd, 1.30).

But Noriega's performances in goal have just been one piece to a stout defense which has consistently grown week by week for the Jaguars. A&M-Victoria ranks third in the RRAC defensively with a 1.20 goals allowed average.

"I think the heart of the team is very contagious," Uetrecht said. "By heart of the team, I mean their love for soccer and to compete and chase excellence. I think we really got a taste of how much Jamie loves the game and how much she wants to do the best for her team, and how she's willing to stand on her head for her teammates. This team has a huge amount of heart, and it's so contagious from player to player. It's enabling them to have personal performances that are to their peak potential."

Garcia continues to set the pace for A&M-Victoria after adding three goals and an assist to her season tallies last week.

The McAllen native now has nine goals and three assists this year, putting her on pace to break Kyleigh Spree-Kolos' single-season scoring record set last season.

The Jaguars have posted double-digit shot totals in each of the last seven games as they continue to put pressure on opponents' back lines. That's led to 10 different players tallying a goal or an assist this season. A&M-Victoria also boasts five different players who have scored multiple goals this year.

"I think it's that constant pursuit of excellence that drives all of us," Uetrecht said. "It's definitely personal to Ayloni. She has a lot of things she wants to accomplish as a player, and it's that pursuit of excellence that really gets her to continue to grow as a player and continue to get the goals and assists."

The Jaguars own a 10-0 edge in the all-time series with Texas College and a 10-3-1 mark all-time against Southwest.