GAME NOTES

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's soccer team will take their talents to the altitude of Colorado  for two matches this weekend. The Buffs will first travel to Fort Lewis College on Friday, Sept. 11 at 4 p.m. WT is 2-4- 1 all-time in Durango and will look to end a three game losing streak. On Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m., the Buffs will take on No. 4 Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo. The match will mark the first time the two schools played one another.
 
THE MATCH-UP
The West Texas A&M men's soccer team heads on the road for the second consecutive week. Following a dramatic 4-3 win on Saturday over Texas A&M-International, the Buffs will travel to Colorado to battle against two RMAC schools. WT faces Fort Lewis on Friday, Sept. 11, at 4 p.m. Following the match with Skyhawks, the Buffs will take on No. 4 Colorado Mesa on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m.
 
ON THE WEB
Live video and stats will be available for both matches this weekend. Follow @BuffsMensSoccer on twitter for updates during the match. Find the links at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
The Skyhawks dropped their first two matches of the season against teams ranked in the NSCAA Top 25, No. 12 St. Edward's and No. 20 Midwestern State. The Skyhawks were outscored 4-1 over the weekend, with all four of the goals coming in the second half.
The Skyhawks return one of the most prolific scorers in the RMAC, Yannis Becker. The senior scored 13 goals a season ago. He is joined up front by Luke Lawrence, who started in 14 matches and scored nine goals.
FLC lost leadership and experience on the defensive side of the ball. But Ryan Schaul returns in goal after recording a 10-6 record in 2014. He was in goal for both their losses this past weekend.
 
FORT LEWIS VS. WEST TEXAS A&M - THE SERIES
- Fort Lewis leads the all-time series against WT, 8-11-1.
- WT has an all-time record 2-4-1 on the road against the Skyhawks.
- Fort Lewis has defeated WT in three consecutive matchups, outscoring the Buffs 10-3.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO MESA
The No. 4 Mavericks enter this week with a record of 0-1-1 after a challenging road trip in Texas. After a 0-0 draw with No. 12 St. Edwards, UMC allowed three second half goals in the 4-1 loss to No. 20 MSU.
Offensively, the Mavericks will look for 2014 NSCAA All-American Roy Abergil to create more offensive chances. Abergil scored a team-high 12 goals and 28 points last season.
The backline will be tested as Blake Carlson is the only returner from last season's squad that allowed a 0.70 goals against average last year.
 
COLORADO MESA VS. WEST TEXAS A&M -THE SERIES
- This is the first ever meeting between the two schools.
- WT has an all-time record of 45-23-7 against schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
COACHES THOUGHTS
What are some take aways from the first two matches:
"I felt good about how the youth of the team performed. We started three freshmen and also had three players back in the line-up who hadn't played in over a year. I think there was a little bit of culture shock in the first game. We showed a lot of heart in fighting back in both matches. If we can clean up the mistakes we made than we have a chance to be in all the rest of the games that we play."
 
Expectations on Colorado road trip:
"It's going to be tough going on the road again, especially to play Fort Lewis. You have to battle the atmosphere, altitude and fans. If the fans are still the way I remember them, they are going to constantly on us. But overall I am happy to get these two big trips out of the way. "
 
On Playing the No. 4 team in the country:
"We have the attitude that we are going to win every match this weekend. We don't talk about rankings, it's too early for that. Sometimes it's too easy to think about other teams and not focus on what you need to improve. We learned a lot last weekend and are working on getting better. If our players play well than we have a great chance to win."