CANYON, Texas – Coming off a huge 3-1 upset win at No. 16 Midwestern State Sunday, the West Texas A&M women's soccer team earned the No. 3-seed in the Lone Star Conference Championship and will host No. 6-seed Texas Woman's Wednesday night at The Pitch in the first round of the tournament.
Fan can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming at www.gobuffsgo.com on the women's soccer schedule page. Angelo Pontello will have the call of the game Wednesday.
The Lady Buffs scored a goal in the first half at MSU on Sunday on a penalty kick and added two more goals in the second half for a 3-0 lead, before MSU got on the board. Freshman Jessica Diaz scored the first goal on the PK and had assists on the other two scores, while freshman Syneca Pyszko made her first start in goal going all 90 minutes in the win.
WT finished the regular season 7-6-5 and went 5-3-4 in conference play, tying Midwestern State for third in the league standings. Angelo State won the league regular season title and Texas A&M-Commerce finished second, one game behind with WT and MSU two games back. ASU will play the winner of the Midwestern State/Eastern New Mexico match on Friday, while TAMUC plays the winner of the WT/TWU match Friday at 5 p.m. in San Angelo, Texas.
The Lady Buffs have had their struggles over the last five games, going 1-3-1, but the win Sunday got the team back on the winning track heading into postseason play. Most likely, the Lady Buffs will need to win the conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA postseason. The Lady Buffs have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2012 when they won the LSC regular season and conference tournament titles.
The Lady Buffs are 24-13 all-time in the LSC Championship and are 6-7 in 13 appearances in the LSC championship match. In 2012, WT downed former LSC member Incarnate Word, 3-2 in double overtime at The Pitch to earn the automatic berth into the NCAA Championship. WT has made 19 LSC Tournament appearances.
For the season, the Lady Buffs are led by freshman Noir Hawash who leads the team with five goals, three assists and 13 points. She has 26 shots (.192) with 12 on goal (.462), while going 1-1 in penalty kicks. She has played in 16 games with 13 starts. Second on the team in scoring in sophomore Marlene van Mourik with three goals and four assists for 10 points. She has a team-high 57 shots (.053) with 32 on goal (.561) and one game winner. Diaz is third in scoring with eight points on three goals and two assists. She has 20 shots (.150) with 11 on goal (.550), two game winners and is 1-1 in penalty kicks.
As a team, the Lady Buffs have scored 25 goals on the year with 21 assists for 71 points. The team has 253 shots (.099) with 123 on goal (.486), seven game winners and 2-2 in penalty kicks. Conversely, the opposition has scored 23 goals with 22 assists for 68 points. The opponents have 209 shots (.110) with 96 on goal (.459), six game winners and 1-2 in penalty kicks. The Lady Buffs have 71 corner kicks on the year, while the opponents have 59.
In goal, junior Courtney Dippel has played and started 17 games, logging 1583:16 minutes, allowing 21 goals (1.19 GAA), 63 saves (.750) and a 6-6-5 record. She has five shutouts with a combined shutout and faced 183 shots. Pyszko has played in three games with one start, logging 140:45 minutes, allowing two goals (1.28 GAA), with eight saves (.800) and 1-0 record. She has a combined shutout and has faced 22 shots.
WT head coach Chad Webb is in his eighth season and is 71-65-17 at the helm of the Lady Buffs. He is 10-3-2 all-time against Texas Woman's. He is 6-4 in the LSC Championship with one title.
Texas Woman's enters after a 7-2 win at UT Permian Basin on Sunday. The Pioneers are 6-8-4 overall and went 3-6-3 in LSC play this season, including a 1-1 tie with WT in Canyon on Sept. 22, and a 3-2 overtime win in Denton on Oct. 22.
Leading the way for the Pioneers this season is Chelsea Martin who has scored six goals and five assists for 17 points. She has a team-high 59 shots (.102) with 23 on goal (.390) and two game winners. Haley Ward is second in scoring with 14 points on six goals and two assists, while taking 57 shots (.105) with a team-high 24 on frame (.421). Maddie Nolton is third in scoring with 12 points on five goals and two assists. She has 19 shots (.263) with nine on frame (.474), one game winner and is a perfect 4-4 in penalty kicks.
As a team, the Pioneers have scored 29 goals with 19 assists for 77 points. TWU has 265 shots (.109) with 109 on goal (.411), six game winners and 4-4 in penalty kicks. Conversely, the opponents have 25 goals with 15 assists for 65 points, while recording 209 shots (.120) with 90 on goal (.431), eight game winners and 2-2 in penalty kicks.
In goal, Maddie Vickroy has played in all 18 games logging 1660:36 minutes, allowing 23 goals for a 1.25 goals against average, along with 62 saves (.729) and 5-8-4 record. She has four shutouts and a combined shutout. Toni Worley has played in two games, allowing two goals and recording one save, while combining on a shutout in 42:36 minutes of play.
Babak Abouzar is in his fifth season at the helm of the Pioneers. He is 40-42-10 overall and is 3-6-1 against WT. TWU is 1-6-1 away from home this season, with the lone win coming on Sunday at UTPB and the tie being at WT.
For the two meetings this season, the Lady Buffs are 0-1-1 against TWU, scoring three goals with two assists for eight points. WT has 29 shots (.103) with 15 on goal (.517). Senior Sydney Hickerson leads the team with three points on one goal and one assist, while van Mourik has eights shots to lead the team with five on goal and one assist.
In goal, Dippel has logged all 203:12 minutes, allowing four goals (1.77 GAA), with nine saves (.692), faced 33 shots with a 0-1-1 record.
TWU is led by Martin who has a goal and an assist in the two meetings. She has five shots and one on frame. Three different Pioneers each have a goal, while Lucero Chavez has the game winner. Vickroy has played every minute, allowing three goals (1.33 GAA) with 12 saves (.800) and faced 29 shots. The Pioneers have a 33-29 lead in shots and an 11-8 lead in corner kicks this season.
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