COMMERCE – Following a season-opening win, the East Texas A&M University soccer team plays a pair of road matches this week, including a nationally ranked team.  
 

Date	Opponent	Coverage
Thursday • 7 p.m.	at No. 22 Oklahoma	Watch (SEC Network+) | Live Stats
Saturday • 7 p.m.	at Oral Roberts	Watch | Live Stats

FULL DIVISION I MEMBERS
East Texas A&M University received approval from the NCAA in June 2025 for its expedited transition process to become full NCAA Division I members and become immediately eligible for NCAA sponsored postseason events. The Lion soccer team has played in the Southland Championship match twice in the last three seasons. 

MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
East Texas A&M played in the Southland Tournament for the third straight year last year and made the championship match for the second time in three years.The Lions are the only team in the conference to be a top three seed in each of the last three conference tournaments.

1-0 FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR
The Lions picked up a 4-1 win last week over Little Rock to win their season opener for the second straight year. It is the first time since the 2014 and 2015 seasons that the Lions won their season opener in back-to-back seasons. 

FOUR SCORE ONCE AGAIN
In the win over Little Rock, the Lions scored four goals, which is the second straight season opener that they tallied four. The four goals are also tied for the most in a match in the Division I era. 

MITCHELL MAKES STATEMENT TO START 2025
After being held to just one goal in 22 matches over the last two seasons, Mya Mitchell (Dallas - Mesquite Horn) scored twice in the win over Little Rock. The 2022 Southland Freshman of the Year totaled five points in the win. 

WE KNOW EACH OTHER
Last Thursday's starting 11 against Little Rock featured nine players that were on the team last season. The two newcomers to start the match were Alyssa Cox (Plano Senior), a transfer from Louisiana, and Payton Joost (Wylie), a transfer from Lamar. 

HELLO NEWCOMERS
Along with Cox and Joost, newcomers Malaya Ring (Malaya Ring), a transfer from Gardner-Webb, also appeared in the match against the Trojans, while freshmen Grace Robertson (Fulshear - Jordan) and Kelsey Lefever (Princeton) came off the bench to make their Lion debuts. 

Newcomers Makayla Gonzalez (South Grand Prairie), Kaylee Humble (Harker Heights), Brooke Shields (Wylie East), and Judtih Nandwa (Mumias, Kenya) did not appear in last week's match. 

RAMIREZ MAKES HISTORY, NAMED SLC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kaydence Ramirez (Waxahachie) was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year and Forward of the Year in 2024, becoming just the second player in program history and first since Vicky Back in 2016 to earn conference player of the year honors. She led the conference in goals.    

FOUR NAMED TO ALL-SLC TEAMS
Along with Ramirez, who was named first team all-conference, the Lions had three players on second team all-conference in Hannah Bell (Duncanville), Mindy Shoffit (Wichita Falls - Rider), and Melissa Storey (Tyne and Wear, England).

THIRD TIME WAS THE CHARM
The Lions and Oral Roberts began the season against each other for three years. After a 4-0 ORU win in 2022, a 2-2 tie in Commerce in 2023, the Lions finally got over the hump to take their first win in the series last season. The two teams meet on Saturday in Tulsa. 
  
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Lions and the Sooners play for the first time on Thursday. Oklahoma is 2-0 on the season, including a win over nationally ranked Oklahoma State and is now ranked No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Sooners have won each of their first two matches of the season by scores of 4-1, winning over Creighton on opening night. Naomi Clark scored four goals combined in the two wins, while being fourth in the country for points. 

Oral Roberts and East Texas A&M renew their rivalry on Saturday playing for the fourth time. The two teams are 1-1-1 against each other over the last three years, this is the second meeting in Tulsa, the previous was East Texas A&M's first ever Division I contest. The Golden Eagles are 0-2 on the season, falling on the road to Kansas State and losing to Northern Colorado in a neutral site match at Omaha, Nebraska. Oral Roberts hosts Friends (Kansas) for its home opener on Thursday.