#17 Midwestern State
Sept. 15 at 7 p.m.
LIVE STATS / VIDEO

Oklahoma Christian
Sept. 17 at 1 p.m.
LIVE STATS

GAME NOTES

CANYON, Texas. – The Buffs will open Heartland Conference play this week with matches at No. 17 Midwestern State and Oklahoma Christian.  The match between the Buffs Mustangs on Thursday, Sept. 15 will be the first conference match for both programs since 2012. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Wichita Falls. They will then make the trip to Oklahoma City, Okla. to face the Eagles on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m.
          
What is Next?...
The Buffs will continue their finish their four match road trip with matches against Texas A&M-International and St. Mary's next week. WT will first make the long trip to Laredo for a match against the Dustdevils on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m before taking on the Rattlers on Saturday, Sept. 24.
          
About Midwestern State…
The Mustangs enter this week's contest with the Buffs having lost back-to-back home matches for the first time since Sept. 1992 after falling to No. 8 Colorado Mines in the NCAA Third Round last season and Northeastern State on Monday night. The Buffs hasn't defeated MSU in Wichita Falls since Nov. 2007.
MSU enters the match up with a record of 2-1-1 with those two wins coming against Fort Lewis and Southern Nazarene. Gabriel Cavalcante leads the team in goals as he has found the back of the net twice while Leon Taylor has been top distributor the Mustangs with two assists. Flavio Guzman, Jorge DeLeon, Antonio Hernandez and Jacob Hernandez have all scored for MSU.
Noah Fazekas has started in three of the Mustangs' four matches making four saves on 23 shots faced. Brice Gardner has also seen time between the posts playing a total of 155 minutes in two appearances.
 
The Series with Midwestern State…
WT and Midwestern State will face off for the 38^th time in school history and 21^st meeting in Wichita Falls. The Mustangs lead the all-time series 27-17-3 having won seven straight matches including four in extra time.
 
About Oklahoma Christian…
The Eagles enter the week with a 2-2 record after allowing an early goal in a 1-0 loss to Harding on Saturday. OC has non-conference wins over Southwest Baptist and Southern Nazarene.
Seth Brown is the leading scorer for the Eagles with three goals including the game-winner against Southern Nazarene. Ante Susic has been the OC's most dynamic player as is second on team in goals (2) while leading the team in assists (2) and points (6).  He has also converted the Eagles' only penalty kick of the season.
Evan Helker has started all four matches for the Eagles allowing eight goals on 57 shots faced. The Senior from Edmond, Okla. has made 17 saves for a .680 save percentage.
 
The Series with Oklahoma Christian…
The Buffs and Eagles will meet for the seventh time in school history and third time in Edmond, Okla. WT leads the all-time series 6-0-0 having outscored OC 21-3 during the previous six matches.
 
A Look Back…
The Buffs stayed perfect at home with dominating wins over Huston-Tillotson and CSU-Pueblo this past weekend. WT used four second half goals to pull away from the Rams, 6-1, on Friday afternoon before scoring three goals in the first 12 minutes against the ThunderWolves.
 
Substitutes Savoring the Moment…
Butch Lauffer has referred to this year's squad as one of the deepest teams that he has had in recent memory. The depth of the squad has been on display in the first four matches as substitutes have scored seven of the Buffs 13 goals. The excellent substitute play has allowed Laufer to use a variety of different line ups and formations.
Rafael Vasconcellos has been one of the bright spots off the bench as he has scored two goals while assisting another. Junior Chris Johnson bring speed and physicality to the field evident from his two goal performance against Huston-Tillotson.
 
Scoring Early, Scoring Often…
After allowing a first minute goal to Drury in their second match of the season, the Buffs coaching staff has emphasized the importance of starting matches with a sense of urgency. That sense of urgency was on full display this past weekend as the Buff scored a total of four goals in the first 15 minutes including three against CSU-Pueblo. To put those four goals in comparison, the Buffs only scored eight goals in the first 15 minute of matches in 2015. They are half way to that total after just four matches.
 
Coaches Corner…
Thoughts on season so far
To be 3-1 at this point is very positive. Friday was a little bit of trap game as we had never played them before. We played pretty well but where able to score a lot of goals. I was really happy with how we started against Pueblo. The early lead allowed us to rest some players while trying other players in different positions.
 
Thoughts on offense after four matches
You are happy in this business if you are creating chances and we are doing that. We still have work to do on finishing but I am happy with the amount of chances we have created so far this season. Even when we are leading, we need to focus on putting the ball in the back of the net.
 
Opening conference play at Midwestern State
I feel good about going into Midwestern this week. We played really well down there last year with a much younger squad before losing in overtime. We are excited about being in a conference and are not intimidated by playing our first game against the Mustangs. We are excited about getting conference play started and playing a quality Midwestern side.
 
Ivan Ulloa leading the team in scoring
He has played really well. He has grown up and grown thinner. He needs to have some big shoulders because of his brother's success at FC Dallas. He handles that pressure really well. We have changed him this year as he played a lot of midfield during his high school career but we have him playing more with his back to the goal. I thought he played great against Pueblo and only took him off after he got a card.
 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
1:21…
The time between Thomas Vicker's and Ivan Ulloa's goals during Sunday's match against CSU-Pueblo.
 
3…
Sophomore Ivan Ulloa scored his third goal of the season on a penalty kick against CSU-Pueblo on Sunday. The Wylie, Texas native has already surpassed his goal total, 2, from last season just four matches into the season.
 
8…
Eight different Buffs have scored a goal so far this season. Ivan Ulloa, Rafael Vasconcellos, Chris Johnson and Thomas Vickers are the only four Buffs to have scored two or more goals.
 
10….
The Buffs are ranked 10^th in the latest NSCAA South Central Rankings.
 
123…
Patrick Satorie has made 123 saves during his three year career at WT. That is the fourth-most in school history behind Sebastian Funerss (209), Paul Hart (204) and Steve McBride (175).
 
293…
With two wins over the weekend, head coach Butch Lauffer moved one step closer to 300 career wins as a men's head coach. The 26^th year head man also sits at 483 career wins after leading the Lady Buffs to 190 wins from 1996-2009.