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PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers are enjoying one of the finest seasons in their history and have no intentions of ending it soon as they prepare for the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament this week in Hunstville, Ala.
 
Prairie View A&M concluded its regular season with a record of 9-7-1 and claimed the SWAC's No. 2 seed in the tournament after finishing league play with a record of 8-1-1. The Lady Panthers will face Southern (5-11-2), which finished league play with a 4-4-2 record. PVAMU defeated Southern 2-0 less than two weeks ago.
 
The Lady Panthers and Jaguars kick off at 6 p.m. Thursday.
 
"This is best team I have ever coached in terms of talent and heart," head coach Abe Garcia said. "I knew we had something special at the beginning of the season, but it was going to be on them as to how well we produced. The leadership, the commitment, and ownership of the team has been here since we began preparation in the spring."
 
That commitment has paid off, particularly on the defensive end of the field, where the Lady Panthers have given up a mere 1.32 goals per match – the second lowest total in the SWAC. Anchoring that defensive unit are seniors Debbie Arguelles (Albuquerque, N.M. / Highland HS) and Reina Mata (Houston, Texas / Aldine HS). Both players have been recognized by the conference as Defensive Players of the Week at least once this season.
 
The converted midfielders have been a steady presence in the backfield, and have played a key role in helping senior goalkeeper Bianca Garza (Nederland, Texas / Nederland HS) – a very skilled player on her merit – post five shutouts this season. Arguelles and Mata are also tireless players, as Arguelles has played every one of PVAMU's 1,562 minutes played this season, while Mata has been on the field for 1,529 minutes.
 
Arguelles has also provided a spark on offense, scoring six goals this season, which ranks second on the team and eighth in the SWAC. She has been a perfect complement to sophomore striker Alicia Cooper (Missouri City, Texas / Tyler Junior College), who is third in the conference with 10 goals.
 
In all, 17 different players have scored for the Lady Panthers this season.
 
"We have had different personnel scoring this season and not had to rely on one person," Garcia said. "It makes it a little easier on us and makes us a more difficult team to prepare for."
 
The Lady Panthers have reached nine wins in a season three other times in their history, but have never reached the elusive 10th victory. Their .559 winning percentage is their best mark since 2004, when the Panthers went 9-4-1 before falling to Jackson State in the opening round of the SWAC tournament.
 
A Prairie View A&M victory Thursday would set up a semifinal match between the Lady Panthers and the winner of the Alabama State–Mississippi Valley State quarterfinal. Alabama State, the No. 3 seed, lost 5-1 in Prairie View to start conference play, but have returned to form lately, and is led by Aaliyah Lewis, who leads the SWAC with 16 goals scored and 11 assists.
 
"I have a feeling that we still have more to show, and I am hopeful that we will get to show it this week," Garcia said. "Our mind has been on the tournament, and we have focused on ourselves and not any one opponent."
 
Should the Lady Panthers meet Howard in the conference championship match, the Lady Panthers would automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament before the match's opening whistle. As part of Howard's membership agreement with the SWAC for women's soccer, the Bison will not be eligible for the conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament until 2015, though they would officially be the SWAC champions this year should they win the tournament final.
 
Howard is member institution of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which does not sponsor women's soccer. Two other MEAC programs – Delaware State and South Carolina State – compete as NCAA Division I independents in women's soccer.