VS Eastern New Mexico 10-8-14: (Live Stats / Live Video / Tickets) AT #13 Midwestern State 10-11-14: (Live Stats / Live Video / Tickets) Buffalo Soccer Game Notes CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's soccer team will return to action this week with two big regional matchups with rivals Eastern New Mexico and 13
th-ranked Midwestern State. The Buffs will host ENMU on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at The Pitch in Canyon with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. WT will then travel to Wichita Falls, Texas to face No. 13 MSU on Saturday, Oct. 11. Match time for Saturday is also scheduled for 7 p.m.
LIVE COVERAGE: Live stats and a free video webstream will be available for Wednesday's match courtesy of West Texas A&M Athletic Media Relations while both will also be provided for Saturday's matchup by Midwestern State Athletics. Links can be found on www.GoBuffsGo.com via the men's soccer schedule page.
CAREER 700th: Head coach
Butch Lauffer returned this fall for his 24th season at the helm of the Buffs. The Washington, D.C., native, holds a 279-123-31 all-time record in his tenure as the men's coach (1991-present). Including his 14 years as the head women's coach (1996-2009), Lauffer is 466-189-48 with the Buffs and Lady Buffs. On Sept. 12, 2014 at CSU-Pueblo, Lauffer coached his 700th career game for WT on the pitch (men and women combined), a 5-3 victory over the ThunderWolves.
HOME STAND: The Buffs are nearing the end of a six-game homestand as they finish off the stretch on Wednesday evening with their match against ENMU. The Buffs split the first two matches, defeating Dallas Baptist (1-0) and losing to St. Edward's (4-0). Two weeks ago, WT grabbed two wins against more Heartland Conference opponents, defeating Oklahoma Christian (2-1) and Newman (2-0) while last week they dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 25 Fort Hays State.
BALANCED ATTACK: The Buffs have outscored their opponents 17-11 so far this season while nine different players have contributed to that goal total. Senior
Vitor Cardoso leads the way with goals, equaling his total from last season already. Sophomore
Chris Johnson has added three goals himself while seniors
Christopher Hutton and
Michael Williams and freshman
Axel Insulander have each tallied two. Also recording goals for WT are redshirt junior
Tre Norton, sophomores
Christian Suthers and
Gabe Williams and freshman
Alex Cervantes.
EASTERN NEW MEXICO AT A GLANCE: The Greyhounds will head into Canyon on Wednesday with a 3-5-2 overall record. They began the season with a 0-1 loss to Adams State on the road before beating UC-Colorado Springs (3-1) and losing to Wayland Baptist (0-3) at home. ENMU then went 0-1-1 at the TAMUI Tournament before dropping two straight to St. Edward's and Newman. It would grab wins against Oklahoma Christian and University of the Southwest before playing to a draw against Lubbock Christian in its last match.
Abayneh Crosby has led the way offensively for the Greyhounds this season as he has tallied a team-high four goals and ten points. Ryan McManus has also scored multiple goals while six other Greyhounds have tallied scores. James Gutierrez has started eight of ENMU's 10 games so far this season and owns a 1.18 GAA and a .808 save percentage in 759 minutes between the pipes. He has tallied 42 saves and a shutout with a 3-3-2 record while allowing 10 goals.
The Buffs are 13-5-2 all-time against the Greyhounds. The Buffs won the first matchup last season, a 1-0 overtime thriller in Canyon on Oct. 18, while they played to a 1-1 draw in Portales on Oct. 24.
MIDWESTERN STATE AT A GLANCE: The No. 13 Mustangs are once again enjoying an excellent season as they currently own a 7-1-2 overall record. After dropping their season-opening match at Fort Lewis, 4-2, the Mustangs are undefeated in their previous eight games. After that loss, they went on to win six-straight, including victories over Colorado Mesa (2-1), UC-Colorado Springs (2-0), Lubbock Christian (4-0), Newman (2-0), St. Mary's (4-2), and Texas A&M-International (3-0). MSU would then play to a 1-1 draw against St. Edward's before defeating UT-Permian Basin, 4-0, and splitting 1-1 with Dallas Baptist.
Andrew Power has been the go-to guy for the Mustangs offensively this season as he has totaled a team-high nine goals and 19 points. Nick Petolick has continued his success from last season as he has played every minute in goal for MSU this season, making all nine starts. He owns a 0.85 GAA and a .765 save percentage with 26 saves.
The Buffs are 17-23-3 all-time against the Mustangs and have lost the previous three meetings.
FORT HAYS STATE REVISITED: The Buffs dropped a close 1-0 contest to then 25th-ranked Fort Hays State on Thursday afternoon at The Pitch. The visiting Tigers recorded a 68th minute goal off the foot of Tanner Brock to improve their record to 5-3-1. With the loss, the Buffs fell to 6-3 on the season.
Thursday marked the fifth match in the Buffs' current six-game home stretch. The Buffs held a 17-10 advantage in shots on the day but were only able to place four of those attempts on target to the Tigers' seven. Senior
Christopher Hutton led the way for WT with three attempts while four other Buffs had two apiece. Sophomore keeper
Patrick Satorie took the loss and fells to 4-3 on the year while Jason Babyak earned the win in goal for FHSU and moved to 1-1.
FHSU pressured early in the second frame as Satorie was forced to make stops on Clifton and Brock. The Buffs would manage a few shots of their own in the ensuing minutes but failed to find the mark. The Tigers then grabbed the game-winning goal in the 68th minute. Michael Cole placed a perfectly timed cross inside the box splitting two WT defenders and drawing Satorie wide. Brock then tapped in the one-timer on an empty net for his first score of the season.
WT was never able to place a shot on target for the remainder of the match and had few opportunities even within the 18 yard box. The Buffs' best chance at knotting the score came shortly after FHSU's goal in the 73rd minute. Henderson took the corner on the left side and found sophomore
Ryan Kennedy for the header just in front of the right post but his attempt would sail wide of the mark.
With the loss, the Buffs fell to 4-2-1 all-time against FHSU after defeating the Tigers in both matchups in 2013. The two sides will meet again on Nov. 2 in Hays, Kan.
