STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Soccer will continue its home-opening three-game homestand on Thursday night against Austin College.
 
The season opener will be streamed on ESPN+, with stats provided by Stat Broadcast. Follow @tarletonsoccer on Instagram, X and Facebook for live updates, highlights and content. As always, admission is free to all fans throughout the season to all games.
 
Tarleton started the week with a 1-1 draw against former WAC foe, UTRGV. Jessica Baires found the back of the net for the first time, deflecting the keeper's clear attempt into the goal. The Vaqueros tied the game four minutes into the second half, but neither team was able to push anything across in the final 40 minutes.
 
Tarleton opened the season with a pair of road contest draws. The Texans opened the season on last Thursday night at Incarnate Word with a 1-1 final. Freshman Sam Liaty earned her first collegiate goal in the 72^nd minute to tie the game at one. On Sunday, keeper Mikayla Kendall pitched her first shutout of the season with a 0-0 draw against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Reegan Wagg tallied three shots with two on goal including back-to-back on goal from point-blank range.
 
Tarleton joins Grambling State as the only NCAA Division I soccer programs to have played three games in the first six days of allowed competition. The Texans three ties is the most by any school. Only six other schools have two ties so far this season.
 
The Texans are 5-5-5 against Texas schools in program history. Thursday will be the first meeting between the two programs.
 
Head coach Pete Cuadrado is in his 21^st season as a collegiate head coach with Tarleton his third stop on his journey. He started his career at North Dakota State before spending time at Wyoming. During his career, he has amassed 178 wins, with 10 of those coming in the first two seasons of the Tarleton program.
 
The Texans welcome back 17 players from a season ago, filling their 27-woman roster with 10 newcomers. Tarleton's roster encompasses eight international-born players, the tenth most in NCAA Division I Women's Soccer. The Purple and White internation contingent includes one of nine D1 Australian-born players and two of 13 Iceland-born athletes.
 
Cuadrado has built his program from the ground up, with this year being the first season he has more upperclassmen on the roster, boosting 14 juniors and seniors and 13 freshman and sophomores. He has 13 players on the 2024 squad that were a part of his inaugural 2022 campaign.
 
Junior goalkeeper, Kendall returns for her third season in Stephenville. In three games this season she has posted 13 saves with a 0.67 goals against average. The staple in goal has accounted for all 10 of the Texans wins the past two seasons. A season ago she set numerous saves records and finish atop multiple statistical categories among WAC goalies. She set the WAC single game saves record posting 19 against Oral Roberts on Sept. 14.
 
Cuadrado retained both of his assistants from the previous two seasons and added a new face to the staff ahead of the 2024 campaign. Assistant coaches Rex Carrell and Delaney Castor will be on the sidelines for their third season, while Carrell was also a part of the building of the team in 2021, marking 2024 his fourth year with the program. Cuadrado added Stephenville native and retired professional soccer player Bailey Chaviers ahead of the season. Chaviers spent three years at The U, before heading overseas to play two seasons in Iceland. She then returned to the United State for the 2023 season but was injured during the preseason for the Chicago Red Stars.
 
In 2024, the Texans will take on a pair of 2023 NCAA Tournament teams. Tarleton will head to Grambling State to take on the defending SWAC champions. In conference play, the Texans will travel to Phoenix to take on the reigning WAC Champions, Grand Canyon. GCU earned their second trip in three years to the NCAA Tournament a season ago before falling to USC in the first round.
 
The 2024 WAC conference schedule has shortened to seven games, with eight teams as active members in the league. The 2024 WAC Tournament will be held at Abilene Christian from November 3-8.
 
For the first time in the regular season, the Texans will host a power four conference opponent with the Houston Cougars coming to Stephenville for a Sunday matinee contest at 1 p.m.