The Teams: Tarleton Texans (3-1-1, 0-0 WAC) vs. UT Permian Basin (2-0-1, 0-0 LSC); Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (5-0-1, 0-0 SBC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas; Monroe, La.
Stadium: Tarleton Soccer Complex; Brown Stadium
Time: 6 p.m. CT (Friday); 1 p.m. CT (Sunday)
Video: ESPN+
 
TEXAN SOCCER GAME DAY
Tarleton will take the pitch for a traditional Friday-Sunday weekend series with a Friday night bout against UT Permian Basin at 6 p.m. in Stephenville before hitting the road to take on the Warhawks of ULM. Live stats and video broadcast will be available for both matches. Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans are also encouraged to follow @TarletonSoccer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
 
ABOUT TARLETON SOCCER
Women's Soccer is one of the newest programs at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. The addition of the program was announced on January 19, 2021 after the university made the move to NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference in July 2020. Pete Cuadrado was named the first head coach of the program after successful tenures at North Dakota State and the University of Wyoming.
 
QUICK KICKS

• Tarleton State University is in the midst of its NCAA debut season as part of its first year of existence. Tarleton made the decision to add women's soccer after making the leap from NCAA Division II to Division I on July 1, 2020. Tarleton made the announcement and the search for a head coach on January 19, 2021.
• Through the first five games of the season, Tarleton has been the aggressor offensively. The Texans have made 65 shot attempts with 37 on goal for a 56.9 shot on goal percentage. In comparison, Tarleton has more shots on goal (37) as their opponents have total shots (32) this season. The Texans have scored nearly as many goals (12) as their opponents have allowed shots on goal (15).
• Kiki Baurmann, one of only two seniors on the roster, has been every bit as good as advertised this season. Baurmann leads the Texans with six points this season. She has scored one goal and dished out four assists, three of which came against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the home opener. She also drilled the game-winning goal from distance in the exhibition victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• Kiki Baurmann is among for the conference lead in assists (4).
• Mikayla Kendall pitched her second shutout of the season last Friday night in a 3-0 win against Alcorn State. She is tied for the conference lead in shutouts (2). The Texans have not allowed a goal at home.
• Tarleton enters Friday's match with the best record by a Texas school in the WAC. The Texans are 3-1-1 for a .700 win percentage. The next best school from the Lone Star State is Abilene Christian at 2-2-1 (.500).

 
WAC PRESEASON POLL
Tarleton was picked to finish 12th in the Western Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll. With 21 points, the Texans were picked last behind Southern Utah with 25 votes. Grand Canyon was picked to finish atop the league standings with 117 votes, followed closely by Utah Valley (110).
 

Rank	Team (1st)	Points
1.	Grand Canyon (8)	117
2.	Utah Valley (4)	110
3.	Stephen F. Austin	90
4.	California Baptist	84
5.	New Mexico State	74
6.	Seattle U	72
7.	Abilene Christian	62
8.	Utah Tech	46
9.	Sam Houston	42
10.	UTRGV	39
11.	Southern Utah	25
12.	Tarleton	21

 
"I can't believe they picked a team who has never lost a game to finish last, but I guess we'll just have to go out and compete," said Cuadrado with a smile.
 
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER
Tarleton made its long-awaited home debut and it did not disappoint. Tarleton set an impressive standard for attendance with 2,512 Texan fans in attendance for this historic night. A few other home facility firsts for the record book include:
 

Feat	Player
Shot	Kiki Baurmann (2') missed over top
Goal	Avery Harr (6')
Assist	Kiki Baurmann (28')
Save	Mikayla Kendall (33')
Card	Brishu Musungu (UAPB, 36') yellow card

 
FROM COACH CUADRADO
At the first Tarleton Sports Extravaganza Show of the season, Head Coach Pete Cuadrado joined the show and had the following sound bytes:

• ON THE HOME OPENER: "The day we took the job, (Thursday) was the day I circled on my calendar. The excitement surrounding it for the last 12 months was what we talked about when we were recruiting. It is one of the best memories I'll have, and I've done this a long time."
• ON WHAT HIS TEAMS ARE KNOWN FOR: "We should be great defending. We should be organized when we defend. We should be deadly on our dead balls, and those are starting to come. That's how I've made my career. Defending is something you can always count on in the game of soccer because its an effort thing. If you bring the defense and bring the effort, that's how you get on the field for this program."
• ON HIS SENIORS: "(Our seniors) are two veteran grad transfers. Macie (Witter) has been a great leader on and off the field. She comes from Georgia in the SEC program with a great pedigree. Kiki is a great person and player. She's super technical and can get in behind people. She scored one of the best goals I've seen against Corpus. I got quite a few texts and phone calls from all over the country after that goal. She's irreplaceable off the field for us. Unfortunately, we only get her for one year but we get Macie for two. That will be huge for us."

 
NOTABLES

• BUILDING FROM SCRATCH: Pete Cuadrado was named the first head coach in Tarleton Soccer history on May 21, 2021. The veteran head coach made the choice to return home to Texas where he played his college career at TCU. Cuadrado was tasked with beginning a program from scratch with one full year to put together a complete roster. The first addition to the soccer team for head coach Pete Cuadrado was assistant coach Rex Carrell. The former Division III standout joined Cuadrado as a volunteer assistant coach for the first year before signing on as the first full-time assistant coach this summer. Cuadrado rounded out his coaching staff with Delaney Castor, who wrapped up her career as the most prolific goalkeeper in Howard Payne University (D3) history. Castor joined the staff in May.
• OPENING AGAINST THE BISON: Pete Cuadrado's first official game as the head coach of Tarleton's newest program came against a former team that he led to new heights – North Dakota State. Tarleton opened against the Bison, where Cuadrado was the head coach for nine seasons and led NDSU out of NCAA Division II and into the Division I ranks. During his time with the Bison, he went 93-62-18 and was named the 2005 NCAA Division I Independent Coach of the Year. He is still the Bison's all-time wins leader. Tarleton received an unwelcome greeting from Pete Cuadrado's former club in their NCAA debut on August 19 when North Dakota State scored in the opening minute, but Tarleton battled back and got a goal from distance by Adriana Alonso-Gomez to give Tarleton a tie in its debut outing.
• WINS IN LOW PLACES: Tarleton recorded the first-ever win in school history off the foot of freshmen Rylee Low. After tying NDSU in the season opener, Low put her first career goal in the top right corner from distance in the 85' to put the first official win in the Tarleton history books against Nicholls State.
• SCORING FROM DISTANCE: Three of Tarleton's nine goals this season have come from beyond the 18-yard box. Adriana Alonso-Gomez scored the first goal in school history to tie the game against North Dakota State and Rylee Low hit the game-winner against Nicholls State last Sunday. Both goals came from downtown, as did Kiki Baurmann's game-winner in the exhibition against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The first home goal in program history in the third match of the season was the first goal for Tarleton inside the box.
• HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE: Tarleton has yet to allow a goal on their home turf. The Texans have now hosted two games in Stephenville in their NCAA history have two shutouts. The first game was a 6-0 shutout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the second a 3-0 blanking of Alcorn State.
• FROSH FOOTWORK: Of Tarleton's 12 goals scored this season, eight have come from freshmen. Avery Harr, Sydney Rouillard, and Mila Bettinelli have scored two goals each while Brianna Rodriguez and Rylee Low have one. Freshmen have accounted for 34 of Tarleton's 65 total shots this season (52.3%).
• WALKING ON: Lindsey Schiller joined the team ahead of the season opener as a walk-on tryout player. Schiller, a junior transfer from Howard Payne (D3), was the only tryout athlete to earn a spot on the full-time roster. She played two seasons at Howard Payne where she played in 26 matches and scored four goals. She totaled 28 shots with 13 on goal for a .464 SOG percentage. She was teammates with her current coach Delaney Castor. Since joining the Texans, Schiller has already appeared in two games.

 
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE HOME SLATE
Tarleton will host eight home matches in its debut season, beginning with an inaugural season celebration on Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Admission is free for all during the debut season and here's a look at what is to come for the home games.
 

Promos and Theme Nights
Date	Promo/Theme
Sept. 18	Pups on the Pitch	Canines Welcome, Free Frisbees
Sept. 23	Greek Night	Join Tarleton Greek Life, Horn Giveaway
Oct. 21	Military Appreciation	Recognize Veterans, ROTC
Oct. 23	Senior Day	Recognize Soccer Senior Class

 
FREE ADMISSION ALL SEASON
To help us celebrate the first season of Tarleton Soccer, admission to all home matches this season are free for all fans.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will takes its longstanding rivalry against Abilene Christian onto the soccer pitch for the first time when the Texans host the Wildcats for their first WAC conference match on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. It will be the 'Pups on the Pitch' game and Tarleton Athletics will be handing out frisbees for their canine friends.