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CANYON, Texas – The #13 Buffs continue their postseason run on Thursday night as they take on the #25 Mavericks of Colorado Mesa with the South Central Regional Championship on the line in Azusa, California at the Cougar Soccer Field starting a 6 p.m. CT.
 
#25 COLORADO MESA
Lawan Abary leads the way offensively for the Mavericks, scoring 14 goals to go along with one assists for 29 points. CMU averages 2.05 goals per contest on 314 shots with 125 of those falling on goal for a shot percentage of .137. RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year Briley Guarneri is 12-3-4 in goal for Mesa, allowing 18 goals with 57 saves for a percentage of .760.
 
CMU has made five straight appearances in the NCAA Division II Postseason as they defeated top seed MSU Texas in a penalty kick shootout (5-4) on Sunday afternoon in Wichita Falls during the Regional Semifinals.
 
Todd Padgett is in his fifth season as the head men's soccer coach at Colorado Mesa, leading the team to five straight NCAA Tournament Appearances including a run to the National Semifinals in 2014.
 
THE SERIES
Thursday night will mark the third overall meeting on the pitch between West Texas A&M and Colorado Mesa. The two teams began the series in 2005 with a CMU victory (3-1) followed by the second meeting back on August 30th in the season opener in Taos, New Mexico in a 1-1 tie. It marks the first ever postseason meeting between the Buffs and Mavericks.
 
THE LAST MEETING
The Buffs fell behind early but battled back to open up the 2018 campaign with a 1-1 tie against the then #21 Mavericks of Colorado Mesa at Eco Park in Taos, New Mexico.
 
CMU  got on the board first in the 28th minute as James McGhee headed in a ball from Kevin Del Mazo for the early 1-0 lead. Callum Challinor tied the match in the 75th minute as the senior finished a pass from Alex Ramirez to make it 1–1.
 
WT HEAD COACH BUTCH LAUFFER
Butch Lauffer enters his 28th season as head men's soccer coach at West Texas A&M. Lauffer is now the longest tenured head coach in West Texas A&M history in a storied career dating back to 1991. Lauffer reached the 500-win plateau on September 30th of last season in Odessa, Texas with a dominating 13-2 win over UT Permian Basin.
 
During his tenure, Lauffer has coached the men to 27 consecutive non-losing seasons and the women to 12-plus victories in 12 seasons. Lauffer has recorded a 332-147-36 (.667) record at the helm of the Buffs with a 522-214-53 (.684) overall record at WT.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Entering the NCAA Postseason, the Buffs led all of Division II Soccer in total goals (64) while ranking second in total points (181.0), fourth in total assists (53.0), fifth in scoring offense (3.2) and sixth in shutouts percentage (0.6) and assists per game (2.65). WT is seventh in team goals against average (0.531), points per game (9.05), save percentage (0.841) and shots on goal per game (8.9) while ranking eighth in shots per game (18.15).
 
Sophomore goalkeeper Alexander Vencel ranked third in save percentage (0.88) and fifth in goals against average (0.449) while senior Julio Vargas is Top-20 in shots on goal per game (11th, 2.35), shots per game (14th, 4.1), total points (17th, 37.0), total goals (19th, 14.0) and total assists (19th, 9.0).
 
BUFFS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Buffs are making their sixth overall appearance in the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Postseason as they are back in the tournament for the first time since the 2009 campaign. WT has made four runs to the Sweet 16 round with back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight in 2000 and 2001. WT is 5-5 all-time in the NCAA Postseason dating back to their first appearance in 1997.