GOLDEN, Colorado – West Texas A&M redshirt freshman goalkeeper Alexander Vencel registered eight saves on Monday afternoon to keep the #5 Orediggers of Colorado School of Mines off the board as the #13 Buffs advanced to the South Central Regional Finals with a 2-0 win at Stermole Soccer Stadium in Golden, Colorado.
 
THE BASICS
The Matchup: #13 West Texas A&M 2, #5 Colorado School of Mines 0
Records: West Texas A&M (16-2-3), Colorado School of Mines (18-2-1)
Venue: Stermole Soccer Stadium
Location: Golden, Colorado
2018 NCAA Division II South Central Region Semifinals
 
The Orediggers had a great opportunity at an early lead with a ball in the box less than five minutes in but the stingy WT defense cleared the ball and avoided an early score, the Buffs responded as Julio Vargas had a clean look at the net in the sixth minute but the ball ended up just outside the post to remain scoreless.
 
The teams traded possessions in their offensive halves of the field before a hand-ball call on the Buffs in the box in the 28^th minute, the active leading scorer in all levels of NCAA Soccer John Haist took the PK for the Orediggers by Alexander Vencel made a huge save to keep the game scoreless. The teams traded chances in the next few minutes before Haist had another look, this time his shot bounded off the post in the 31^st minute.
 
The Buffs had another good look in the 38^th minute as the senior launched a ball toward the goal but Drew Johnson was there for the save, Vencel registered another save in the 41^st minute on a Matthew Summerfield header attempt. The Orediggers outshot the Buffs 12-8 in the opening half with six shot falling on goal for Mines.
 
Summerfield opened up the second half with a great chance at the game's first goal as the senior sent a header attempt over the crossbar out of bounds for a goal kick, the teams traded offensive possessions as Vencel ran his save total to seven in the 56^th minute.
 
The Buffs picked up a pair of yellow cards as but the WT defense was able to clear the ball following a free kick, Ben Overholt had a good look in the 62^nd minute but the redshirt junior pushed the shot wide left to give the ball back to the Buffs. WT was awarded a corner kick in the 68^th minute as Reece Schattle sent the ball into the box, Ivan Ulloa headed the ball in front of the net as Stefan Andjelic finished with a chip shot for the 1-0 lead.
 
WT added to their lead in the 74^th minute as Lucca Lima used his own rebound to connect from just outside the net to make it 2-0, Mines looked to respond as they sent the ball into the box but an offside call on the Orediggers killed a chance to cut into the lead. The Buffs almost added to their lead in the 78^th minute at Vargas had a one-on-one opportunity but Johnson registered his sixth save of the afternoon to keep it 2-0.
 
Mines went up two players with a pair of red cards on the Buffs with just eight minutes to play as Greyson Adams had a clear shot at the net but Vencel came out of nowhere with a diving stop. Vencel was magical in goal as the redshirt freshman tallied eight saves on 18 shots faced for his eighth shutout of the season to move to 10-1-2 overall.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs advance to the South Central Regional Finals as they will take on fourth seeded Colorado Mesa on Thursday night at 6 p.m. CT at Cougar Soccer Field in Azusa, California in the Sweet 16 Round. The #25 Mavericks defeated the region's top seed #6 MSU Texas on Sunday afternoon in a shootout at Stang Park in Wichita Falls.
 
#7 Azusa Pacific (17-1-1) will battle Cal Poly Pomona (15-6-0) in the West Regional Finals starting at 9 p.m. CT with the West and South Central Regional Champions facing off in the Elite Eight on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT in Azusa for a spot in the NCAA Division II Final Four on the line.