Getting to Know the Southland: Women’s Soccer

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women’s soccer team is set to kick off the 2024 season in the Southland Conference.

Last year, Lamar became the first team to successfully repeat as SLC tournament champions and the first repeat regular season champions since Stephen F. Austin (SFA) won five in a row from 2011-15.

In 2024, newcomers UTRGV and SFA will join Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Lamar, McNeese, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Southeastern, Texas A&M-Commerce, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to make up the 11 women’s soccer institutions in the SLC.

Seven of these teams will meet from Nov. 5-10 in Corpus Christi to determine a tournament champion and the NCAA Tournament qualifier. The number one seed will earn a bye into the semifinals.

The SLC has had three student-athletes earn All-America honors including, SFA’s Kylie Louw in 2012, Southeastern’s Hope Sabadash in 2015, and Lamar’s Esther Okoronkwo in 2020.

Louw became a member of the South African national team in 2006, and six years later, she helped them qualify for the Olympics for the first time in team history.

Okoronkwo is playing overseas and has been a member of the Nigerian national team which has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Nigeria won 1-0 in aggregate against Cameroon as Okoronkwo scored the only goal across two games to qualify.

Among current members, Stephen F. Austin leads the conference in regular season championships with 11, followed by Southeastern with five, Lamar with four, Northwestern State with two, and McNeese with one.

Northwestern State and Southeastern co-lead the conference in tournament championships with five followed by Lamar with four, Stephen F. Austin with three, Houston Christian with two, and McNeese with one.

Lamar led all teams this past season with a No. 51 RPI ranking followed by McNeese (200), Texas A&M-Commerce (219), Southeastern (251), Northwestern State (263), Houston Christian (267), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (276), Incarnate Word (281), and Nicholls (340). UTRGV finished ranked No. 303 and SFA ranked No. 305.