ODESSA, Texas – The Buffs dominated from start to finish defeating UT Permian Basin 4-0 on Thursday night clinching the top spot in the west division and an automatic bid into the Heartland Conference tournament. WT played inspired soccer from the opening whistle scoring two first half goals before adding two more in the second half to seal the victory. With the win, the Buffs improve to 13-3-2 and 10-2-1 in conference play while UTPB fell to 4-9-3 (4-6-3).

"We preached to the team all week that they needed to get an early goal and we did just that," WT men's soccer head coach Butch Lauffer said. "I thought our intensity level was high for most of the match and we were able to capitalize in front of goal unlike the last time we played them. It was a total team effort and our defense continued to show why they are one of the best in the conference."

Mirza Dizdarevic got the party started at 21:11 in the first half on a breakaway goal down the middle. The Malmo, Sweden native used his speed to get on the end of Evan Bozman's pass before beating Alec Sproule for his third of the season giving the Buffs an early 1-0 lead.

Tom Cowling made it 2-0 just seven minutes later at 28:41 scoring on his seventh shot of the first half on a nice ball from Jake Wiffen. The senior defender put just enough on his shot to beat Sproule after showing off his touch on a nice pass from Wiffen to double WT's advantage.

The Buffs finished the first half with 19 shots, 11 of those being on goal.

Ivan Ulloa made it 3-0 scoring his sixth of the season at 55:38 after WT had gone down to 10 men just minute earlier. The Wylie, Texas native has been in fine form of late and put that on full display as he pounced on a rebound in front of the net for his second goal in as many matches. Sophomore Michael Garcia was credited with the assist. Freshman Cameron Walker made it 4-0 right before the final whistle as the Humble, Texas native slotted the ball into the back of the net from a wide along the goal line.

The Buffs outshot the Falcons 26-7, 15 of those being on goal.

Junior Patrick Satorie made his only save of the match in the 83^rd minute as he picked up his school record 11^th shutout of the season. With the shutout, the Victoria, Australia native has now tied Sebastian Furness for most shutouts in a career with 21.

The Buffs will finish the regular season with a match on the road against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. Links for live stats and video can be found at GoBuffsGo.com under the men's soccer schedule page.

Notes:

·  With the win, the Buffs now lead the all-time series 15-0-1 and 7-0-0 on the road.

·  The Buffs outshot the Falcons 61-13 in their two matches this season.

·  The Buffs defense hasn't allowed a goal in 399 minutes 46 seconds.

·  Tom Cowling finished with a match-high nine shots, two more than UTPB as a team.

·  Evan Bozman is now tied with Christian Suthers for the team-high in assists (4).

·  Mirza Dizdarevic is now the third Buff to have two or more game-winning goals this season.

·  The Buffs are now 2-0-0 when leading 2-0 at halftime.

· Midwestern State clinched the regular season Heartland Conference title with a 4-0 victory over Newman on Thursday night and will host the conference tournament.