MORAGA, Calif. - On Thursday, August 15th, the Saint Mary's women's soccer team will officially begin their 2024 season with a non-conference home matchup against Big West member UC Irvine. The Gaels got some quality preparation in an exhibition match last weekend against fellow East Bay native Cal. On Thursday, they will take on the Anteaters for the 13th time in program history as they hold a 7-3-2 overall record. UC Irvine is on a current two-game win streak over the Gaels but head coach
Theresa Romagnolo and her squad will look to add their 8th win over the Anteaters at Saint Mary's Stadium Thursday evening.
GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE
Date: Thursday, August 15th
Time: 5:00 PM
Location: Saint Mary's Stadium
Live Stats: smcgaels.com
Live Stream: ESPN+
Tickets: smcgaels.com/tickets
GAELS OUTLOOK
Last Friday the annual WCC Preseason Poll was released with Saint Mary's earning 52 points and selected t-5th with conference rival Gonzaga. Despite an 0-3 start to conference play, the Gaels concluded the 2023 season on a heater with a five game unbeaten streak which featured four wins and a draw to climb into a tie for fourth place with Portland. During that stretch, the Gaels outscored their opponents 10-2 and recorded four shutouts.
Along with the preseason poll was the All-WCC Preseason Team which featured the top offensive player for the Gaels in
Briana Salvetti. Salvetti led the team with 10 goals and 6 assists and played in all 18 matches. Saint Mary's also returns additional all-conference selections including
Sydney Middaugh and
Savannah Schwarze who combined for eight goals and three assists in 2023. The Gaels also added an experienced defender to their backline in
Khalia Gathright who transferred in from Washington State where she played in 41 games and tallied over 1,000 minutes. Gathright will provide great stability to the Gaels backline and likely be an everyday starter for the 2024 season.
Head coach
Theresa Romagnolo enters her fifth season with the Gaels and is fresh off of her second 10-win season in the last three years (2021 & 2023). Romagnolo and the Gaels were 10-5-3 overall and finished WCC action with a record of 4-3-1, placing t-4th with Portland. Saint Mary's had six wins during their non-conference schedule including a Washington sweep over the 15th ranked Cougars of Washington State and Eastern Washington, outscoring both opponents 7-3 on the weekend. In 2021, Romagnolo recorded the program's first 10-win season in a decade and with the continued success, the Gaels will seek their first top-three league finish since 2003 and attempt to make a run at their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001.
ABOUT UC IRVINE (The Big West)
UC Irvine finished the 2023 season with a 10-8-6 overall record and were 3-3-4 in Big West play. The Anteaters have had just three wins in their series history with the Gaels but they currently own a two-game win streak dating back to last season where they took down the Gaels 2-1 on their home field. Irvine was recently selected 4th in the Big West Preseason Poll and are led by the programs most winningest coach in Scott Juniper. Juniper enters his 17th season and owns four Big West regular season titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances in his tenure.
The Anteaters struggled to gain momentum for most of the year but ended the season on a historic hot streak that led them to the Big West Tournament title as the 6th seed and an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. They went unbeaten in three of their final four regular season games and then knocked off Long Beach State, top seed Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly to secure their third Big West Tournament title.
Juniper and his squad seem to have a flair for the dramatic as their 2023 tournament title went down as their third straight and qualified them for their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance. The drama continued into the regionals as Irvine toppled number one seed UCLA 1-0 on their home field and then defeated WCC member Gonzaga 2-1 to advance to the third round. They would take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers as the regional host but get shutout 4-0 to end their miraculous postseason run.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
