Community Champion: UTEP goalie Alyssa Palacios can rewrite record books

UTEP goalkeeper Alyssa Palacios has a chance to break several school records if her senior season is as successful as previous years have been.

Palacios enters her final year with the Miners second all-time in saves and third all-time in shutouts in program history.

She needs just three more clean sheets to set the record for shutouts and 97 more saves to become the all-time leader at UTEP.

She admits she can’t help but dream about breaking those records from time to time.

“Of course I think about it sometimes. It would be cool if I got there, but I try not to focus on it or think about it too much,” said Palacios. “Hopefully, if the games just go as they should and we play right those things will come. But it definitely has crossed my mind a couple times.”

A native of Carrollton, Texas, Palacios has worked her way up to being a team captain in her final campaign.

And thought she would love to break some individual records, she’s more focused on the team’s success.

“I would say we definitely want to get to the conference tournament and compete for a championship,” she said. “You know, at least in my career here, I’ve only gotten to go to the tournament one time. And so, for me personally, that’s also a big goal to get there.”

The Miners begin their 2018 season at home Friday at 7 p.m. against Lubbock Christian.

Coach Kevin Cross is 13-3-1 all-time in season openers as the head coach of the Miners. And he’s confident the team can add another win in their opener Friday.

“We’ve got some attacking ability. We’ve talked about Alyssa, so we have, we think, the best goalkeeper in the conference,” said Cross. “So, you know, we’ve got some strengths. And playing here at home, you can’t beat that. I think we have the best fans in Conference USA.”