Spree-Kolos breaks record, Jags clinch RRAC Tourney berth with rout of NAU

Graduate senior Kyleigh Spree-Kolos, entering her first year at UHV, and COVID senior Estelle Flanagan sat down at the start of the year to talk about goals for the upcoming year. The two wanted to push each other in pursuit of potentially a Red River Athletic Conference title and an All-American nod. Both strikers, they knew either goal would require them to succeed at a high level. As the season went along, Spree-Kolos, who transferred from Our Lady of the Lake, got hot and started to put pressure on the UHV women’s soccer single-season goals record first set by Sheliat Akapo in 2013 and tied by Emily Lupton in 2015. On Saturday, during Senior Day, the Victoria native Spree-Kolos broke the record with a hat trick in a 5-0 rout of RRAC foe North American at The Cage. Her 77th minute goal was her 14th of the season, setting the new mark in front of her entire family. With the win, UHV also clinched a spot in the RRAC Tournament. “I think that was the most important thing; all of my family was here to witness it,” Spree-Kolos said. “I think that’s what made it more special to me. In San Antonio, I didn’t have that luxury of everyone being able to be there. So, it was definitely worth it. Plus, having some of the youth teams here to see it, it was a great feeling.” After tying the record in the 16th minute on a corner kick from Chloe Spencer, Spree-Kolos then had four shot attempts either get saved or not go on frame before breaking the record. She wasn’t going to be deterred and knew the third goal would come. “Throughout my career, I’ve always thought, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be,’” said Spree-Kolos, who had a team-high eight shots on Saturday. “Those previous shots weren’t meant to be and the next one was. That’s how I played it. My thoughts were, ‘I just can’t stop because one has to go in.’” Flanagan, who assisted Spree-Kolos’ record-setting goal, noted that when her teammate started getting close to the record, she wanted to help Spree-Kolos more than add to her own tally. “From that moment, if Kyleigh had a better opportunity, I was just going to give her the ball,” Flanagan said. “If she scores, we all score.” The veteran duo combined for all five goals for UHV (10-4-0, 7-4-0) as they snapped a two-game schneid with Flanagan scoring in the 12th minute and again in the 48th minute on a pass from Spree-Kolos. It’s the second time this season Flanagan has tallied two goals in a game, and first since a 7-0 win over Texas College. Saturday also broke a three-match drought without a goal, and she did so with her whole family in the stands – some of which flew in from California to be there on Senior Day. “They’re here to see me and they saw me at my full potential,” Flanagan said. “To put goals in the back of the net, to be able to support a teammate and to push the girls forward, it just felt great.” But the production from the seniors up top came as no surprise to head coach Adrian Rigby. In fact, the 15th-year head coach wanted his seniors to set the tone and started all 10 seniors on Saturday in Flanagan, Spree-Kolos, Hayli Nichols, Nickole Stroman, Ana Maria Munoz, Arianna Rios, Lexi Day, Kaitlyn Kongdara, Noa Txintxurreta and Chloe Spencer. Txintxurreta got the assist on Spre-Kolos’ opener in the fifth minute, meaning everybody who contributed to UHV’s scoring was a senior. Saturday’s start was special for Kongdara, who suffered a season-ending injury. She was subbed off in the first minute to an ovation from her teammates and the fans. “We’re very fortunate to be able to do something like that,” Rigby said. “For KK, obviously her season didn’t end the way she wanted. But we wanted to recognize and give a proper send off for all of the seniors. “I think the younger girls really saw how much the game means to the seniors and how much UHV means to them. A lot of players have gone through a lot of adversity just to make it to this day. So, I’m really proud of them and the people they are.” The Jaguars will conclude their home schedule on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 1 p.m. against Our Lady of the Lake before wrapping up the season on the road at Texas A&M-San Antonio. Two wins next week and one loss each by each Texas A&M-Texarkana and LSU Alexandria could see UHV jump up to fourth and host an RRAC Quarterfinal match.
Graduate senior Kyleigh Spree-Kolos, entering her first year at UHV, and COVID senior Estelle Flanagan sat down at the start of the year to talk about goals for the upcoming year. The two wanted to push each other in pursuit of potentially a Red River Athletic Conference title and an All-American nod. Both strikers, they knew either goal would require them to succeed at a high level. As the season went along, Spree-Kolos, who transferred from Our Lady of the Lake, got hot and started to put pressure on the UHV women’s soccer single-season goals record first set by Sheliat Akapo in 2013 and tied by Emily Lupton in 2015. On Saturday, during Senior Day, the Victoria native Spree-Kolos broke the record with a hat trick in a 5-0 rout of RRAC foe North American at The Cage. Her 77th minute goal was her 14th of the season, setting the new mark in front of her entire family. With the win, UHV also clinched a spot in the RRAC Tournament. “I think that was the most important thing; all of my family was here to witness it,” Spree-Kolos said. “I think that’s what made it more special to me. In San Antonio, I didn’t have that luxury of everyone being able to be there. So, it was definitely worth it. Plus, having some of the youth teams here to see it, it was a great feeling.” After tying the record in the 16th minute on a corner kick from Chloe Spencer, Spree-Kolos then had four shot attempts either get saved or not go on frame before breaking the record. She wasn’t going to be deterred and knew the third goal would come. “Throughout my career, I’ve always thought, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be,’” said Spree-Kolos, who had a team-high eight shots on Saturday. “Those previous shots weren’t meant to be and the next one was. That’s how I played it. My thoughts were, ‘I just can’t stop because one has to go in.’” Flanagan, who assisted Spree-Kolos’ record-setting goal, noted that when her teammate started getting close to the record, she wanted to help Spree-Kolos more than add to her own tally. “From that moment, if Kyleigh had a better opportunity, I was just going to give her the ball,” Flanagan said. “If she scores, we all score.” The veteran duo combined for all five goals for UHV (10-4-0, 7-4-0) as they snapped a two-game schneid with Flanagan scoring in the 12th minute and again in the 48th minute on a pass from Spree-Kolos. It’s the second time this season Flanagan has tallied two goals in a game, and first since a 7-0 win over Texas College. Saturday also broke a three-match drought without a goal, and she did so with her whole family in the stands – some of which flew in from California to be there on Senior Day. “They’re here to see me and they saw me at my full potential,” Flanagan said. “To put goals in the back of the net, to be able to support a teammate and to push the girls forward, it just felt great.” But the production from the seniors up top came as no surprise to head coach Adrian Rigby. In fact, the 15th-year head coach wanted his seniors to set the tone and started all 10 seniors on Saturday in Flanagan, Spree-Kolos, Hayli Nichols, Nickole Stroman, Ana Maria Munoz, Arianna Rios, Lexi Day, Kaitlyn Kongdara, Noa Txintxurreta and Chloe Spencer. Txintxurreta got the assist on Spre-Kolos’ opener in the fifth minute, meaning everybody who contributed to UHV’s scoring was a senior. Saturday’s start was special for Kongdara, who suffered a season-ending injury. She was subbed off in the first minute to an ovation from her teammates and the fans. “We’re very fortunate to be able to do something like that,” Rigby said. “For KK, obviously her season didn’t end the way she wanted. But we wanted to recognize and give a proper send off for all of the seniors. “I think the younger girls really saw how much the game means to the seniors and how much UHV means to them. A lot of players have gone through a lot of adversity just to make it to this day. So, I’m really proud of them and the people they are.” The Jaguars will conclude their home schedule on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 1 p.m. against Our Lady of the Lake before wrapping up the season on the road at Texas A&M-San Antonio. Two wins next week and one loss each by each Texas A&M-Texarkana and LSU Alexandria could see UHV jump up to fourth and host an RRAC Quarterfinal match.
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October 26, 2024

Graduate senior Kyleigh Spree-Kolos, entering her first year at UHV, and COVID senior Estelle Flanagan sat down at the start of the year to talk about goals for the upcoming year.

The two wanted to push each other in pursuit of potentially a Red River Athletic Conference title and an All-American nod. Both strikers, they knew either goal would require them to succeed at a high level.

As the season went along, Spree-Kolos, who transferred from Our Lady of the Lake, got hot and started to put pressure on the UHV women's soccer single-season goals record first set by Sheliat Akapo in 2013 and tied by Emily Lupton in 2015.

On Saturday, during Senior Day, the Victoria native Spree-Kolos broke the record with a hat trick in a 5-0 rout of RRAC foe North American at The Cage. Her 77th minute goal was her 14th of the season, setting the new mark in front of her entire family. With the win, UHV also clinched a spot in the RRAC Tournament.

"I think that was the most important thing; all of my family was here to witness it," Spree-Kolos said. "I think that's what made it more special to me. In San Antonio, I didn't have that luxury of everyone being able to be there. So, it was definitely worth it. Plus, having some of the youth teams here to see it, it was a great feeling."

After tying the record in the 16th minute on a corner kick from Chloe Spencer, Spree-Kolos then had four shot attempts either get saved or not go on frame before breaking the record.

She wasn't going to be deterred and knew the third goal would come.

"Throughout my career, I've always thought, 'If it's meant to be, it'll be,'" said Spree-Kolos, who had a team-high eight shots on Saturday. "Those previous shots weren't meant to be and the next one was. That's how I played it. My thoughts were, 'I just can't stop because one has to go in.'"

Flanagan, who assisted Spree-Kolos' record-setting goal, noted that when her teammate started getting close to the record, she wanted to help Spree-Kolos more than add to her own tally.

"From that moment, if Kyleigh had a better opportunity, I was just going to give her the ball," Flanagan said. "If she scores, we all score."

The veteran duo combined for all five goals for UHV (10-4-0, 7-4-0) as they snapped a two-game schneid with Flanagan scoring in the 12th minute and again in the 48th minute on a pass from Spree-Kolos.

It's the second time this season Flanagan has tallied two goals in a game, and first since a 7-0 win over Texas College. Saturday also broke a three-match drought without a goal, and she did so with her whole family in the stands – some of which flew in from California to be there on Senior Day.

"They're here to see me and they saw me at my full potential," Flanagan said. "To put goals in the back of the net, to be able to support a teammate and to push the girls forward, it just felt great."

But the production from the seniors up top came as no surprise to head coach Adrian Rigby.

In fact, the 15th-year head coach wanted his seniors to set the tone and started all 10 seniors on Saturday in Flanagan, Spree-Kolos, Hayli Nichols, Nickole Stroman, Ana Maria Munoz, Arianna Rios, Lexi Day, Kaitlyn Kongdara, Noa Txintxurreta and Chloe Spencer.

Txintxurreta got the assist on Spre-Kolos' opener in the fifth minute, meaning everybody who contributed to UHV's scoring was a senior.

Saturday's start was special for Kongdara, who suffered a season-ending injury. She was subbed off in the first minute to an ovation from her teammates and the fans.

"We're very fortunate to be able to do something like that," Rigby said. "For KK, obviously her season didn't end the way she wanted. But we wanted to recognize and give a proper send off for all of the seniors.

"I think the younger girls really saw how much the game means to the seniors and how much UHV means to them. A lot of players have gone through a lot of adversity just to make it to this day. So, I'm really proud of them and the people they are."

The Jaguars will conclude their home schedule on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 1 p.m. against Our Lady of the Lake before wrapping up the season on the road at Texas A&M-San Antonio. Two wins next week and one loss each by each Texas A&M-Texarkana and LSU Alexandria could see UHV jump up to fourth and host an RRAC Quarterfinal match.