SAN ANGELO – The No. 19-ranked Angelo State soccer team begins the second half of Lone Star Conference play with a pair of  road games this weekend at Texas Woman's and Texas A&M-Commerce.

The Rambelles (10-1-1, 3-1-1 LSC) are atop the current conference standing with 10 points which includes the 1-0 double-overtime win over the Lions (8-4-0, 3-2-0 LSC) and 1-0 regulation-win over TWU (7-5-1, 1-3-1 LSC). ASU has outscored its opponents 35-5 this season, but is coming off its first loss of the season last weekend when it dropped a 0-2 decision at Eastern New Mexico (6-5-0, 3-2-0 LSC). A&M-Commerce and ENMU are second in the conference standings with nine points each coming into the fourth week of LSC play.

"I think Texas Woman's and Commerce will both remember the last game against us and will be motivated," ASU head coach Travis McCorkle said. "Both games were close and they'll both want to defend their home field and play great against us. We will have to go into a hostile environment and work hard to bring home three points from each game."

ASU, which ranks third in the nation with a 75 percent shutout percentage and is eighth in total goals, opens the weekend with a 7 p.m. game at TWU before playing at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Commerce. The Rambelles are 3-1-0 away from San Angelo this season, while TWU is 4-2-0 on its home field and Commerce is 4-2 at the Lion Soccer Field. ASU's 35 goals this season is followed in the conference statistics by TWU which has a 29-10 goal advantage this season and A&M-Commerce has a 20-9 goal-scoring margin advantage.The Lions will celebrate Senior Day before playing the Rambelles on Sunday.

The Rambelles will face two of the top offensive players in the conference this weekend with Savannah Henderson (Commerce) and Natalia Diaz (TWU). Henderson leads the LSC with 10 goals through 12 games this season and has also added three assists for the Lions. Diaz has scored nine goals and has assisted on five goals through 13 games for the Pioneers who are coming off a 0-1 non-conference loss to Dallas Baptist and have dropped three straight dating back to their loss to ASU. Courtnie Northern (A&M-Commerce) was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday and currently leads the LSC with 79 saves, but has also allowed nine goals. Northern, who made nine saves against the Rambelles in the first meeting, has a .898 saves percentage this season.
 
BELLE ROSTER REPORT
ASU leads the LSC with only five goals allowed this season and nine shutouts. Shantel Wittke tops the conference with seven shutouts and is two shutouts away from matching the program's all-time record. Wittke, a junior from Arizona, has made 39 saves and has an 8-1-1 record coming into this weekend's road tests. She has a .886 saves percentage and a 0.49 goals against average in 919 minutes of play. In two starts, sophomore Natalie Nielsen has recorded two shutouts in goal and has made six saves. Wittke was named the LSC Defender of the Week two weeks ago after her shutouts against A&M-Commerce and TWU. She also has shutouts against New Mexico Highlands, Fort Lewis, Colorado Mesa, St. Mary' and Midwestern State.

Sierra Anderson and Haley Mendel lead the Rambelles with seven goals through the first 12 games of the season. Mendel and Tiffany Dang are tied for the team lead with four assists, while Mendel tops the team with 18 points. Anderson has scored four goals in the past five games, including two last Friday in the team's 2-0 win at West Texas A&M. Mendel and Anderson are currently tied for third in the conference in goals this season with Mendel also third in total points with 18.

Anderson leads ASU in conference scoring with her two goals against WT coming after she scored the game-winner in double overtime against A&M-Commerce. She currently has 16 goals in her career after she emerged as an LSC threat last season with seven goals as a sophomore. She was named to the LSC first-team and to the all-region team last season and was the LSC Offensive Player of the Week two weeks ago after her game-winning header against A&M-Commerce.

Mendel scored the first two goals of the season for Angelo State with a pair of goals against Adams State in the season-opener and also has the only hat trick of the season with three goals against Colorado Mesa. Mendel also scored goals against New Mexico Highlands and Oklahoma Christian. Her assists have come on goals by Anderson, Elizabeth Rodriguez and two from Cynthia Andrews.

Dang has recorded her four assists in the past seven games, including connecting with Dakota Briseno for the game winner against TWU two weeks ago. She also has assists on three of Anderson's goals.
Loni Byers has added four goals in her freshman season an also has three assists. Byers scored her first goal against New Mexico Highlands and has added two goals against Oklahoma Christian and another against UTPB. Jenny Kotowych has three goals and three assists for the Rambelles with goals against OC, St. Mary's and UTPB and assists off two goals by Mendel and another by Caitlyn Conaway. Rodriguez, Andrews and Brianne Brown have two goals each this season with Brown adding two assists. A senior from LaVernia, Brown scored her goals against Fort Lewis and St. Mary's and has assists on goals by Mendel and Anderson.

ASU, which has seen 15 players score this season, has one goal from Selena Alvarez, Ashley Exford, Briseno, Conaway, Dang, Kathleen Keoughan and Brittany Martinez. Defensively, the team continues to receive strong play from Lauren Perry, Callie Smith, Briseno, Conaway, Martinez and a cast of midfielders who multi-task with their offensive and defensive responsibilities.

RAMBELLES IN THE RANKINGS
The Angelo State soccer team dropped back to a No. 19 national ranking in this week's NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Poll which was released on Tuesday and came after the team went on the road to earn a 2-0 win over West Texas A&M last Friday and a 0-2 loss to Eastern New Mexico last Sunday.

ASU, which had never been ranked in program history before this season, entered the polls four weeks ago at No. 14 before rising to No. 11, No. 10 and then No. 8 before dropping to No. 19 this week.

Minnesota State-Mankato (11-0-0) took over the No. 1 national ranking with No. 5 College of Saint Rose (10-1-1) dropping and drawing last weekend, while Columbus State (10-0-1) moves up two spots to No. 2 and No. 3 Grand Valley State (10-1-0) and No. 4 Colorado School of Mines (11-0-2) round out the top-5. Regionally speaking, Mines is atop the DII South Central rankings with Metro State (7-1-1) second after jumping ASU. Regis (7-3-1) is fourth, Dallas Baptist (6-3-1) fifth and St. Edward's (7-4-0) is sixth. Midwestern State (6-2-6), Texas A&M-Commerce (8-4-0) and ENMU (6-5-0) round out the bottom portion of the NSCAA regional ranking which is voted on by select coaches.