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CANYON, Texas. – For the first time in program history, West Texas A&M women's soccer will host the South Central Regional Championship when they face Dallas Baptist on Friday, Nov. 16, at The Pitch. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
UC San Diego and Western Washington will play at 4 p.m. in the West Regional Championship the winner moving on to play the winner of WT/DBU on Sunday at 2 p.m.
WEST TEXAS A&M
The No. 2 seed Lady Buffs will host the regional final for the first time after defeating Colorado Colorado Springs 4-3 on penalty kicks in cold, windy conditions on Sunday. For the season, they are 15-3-2 overall and 8-2-1 at The Pitch.
Lone Star Conference Player of the Year Hannah Kelley-Lusk returns to the lineup where she has scored nine goal and six assists for a team-high 24 points. The sophomore will be joined upfront by junior Khaline Jacobs who has scored a team-high 11 goals so far this season. Jessica Diaz is the top scoring midfielder for WT with four goals and five assists while Mackenzie Taylor has two goals of her own.
The defense is led by the duo of Cheyenne Orozco and Khadisha Debesette. Orozco, the LSC Defensive Player of the Year, has started every game this season anchoring a defense that has not allowed more than two goals in the last four games. Look for either Marlene van Mourik or Emily Avila to join them on the backline.
Senior goalkeeper Courtney Dippel needs one victory to break the program record for most career wins. The Belton, Texas native was the hero in Sunday's game blocking three penalty kicks to send WT their first regional final in almost a decade.
DALLAS BAPTIST
Dallas Baptist also advanced on penalties following a 1-1 draw to defeat Colorado School of Mines and advance to their second regional final in the past four years. The Patriots are led by 11th year head coach Michelle Lenard who has amassed a career record of 153-72-18.
Of their 40 goals scored this season, 17 have come from Delaney Schmidt and Ericca Everson. Schimdt has tallied a team-high nine goals to go along with four assists for 22 points while Everson has been just as clinical in front of goal with eight goals. Abigail Olmos has five goals and four assists playing out of the midfield. The All-American scored within the first minutes of Monday's contest against CSM to give the Patriots and early 1-0 lead.
DBU's defense is only allowing 0.86 goals per game thanks in large part to Maggie Scales and Hope Koym. Scales was named the Heartland Conference Defensive Player of the Year as logged over 2,000 minutes in 22 games. Koym came up big against CSM as the junior has 67 saves on the season while only allowing 18 goals for a save percentage of .788.
LAST MEETING
The Lady Buffs and Patriots last played on Sept .26, 2015 in Dallas, Texas with DBU scoring three second half goals en route to a 4-0 victory.
Karyn Forbes had a game-high four shots as WT outshot the Patriots 11-10 but were unable to find the back of the net. After going down 1-0 in the 8th minute on a goal from DBU's Cecily Martinez, WT wouldn't allow another goal until the 56th minute when Ashely Cox scored. The home team would add two more goals, both coming in the final 11 minutes to seal the victory.
THE SERIES
DBU leads the all-time series 5-3 having won the previous five games. WT won the first-ever meeting 6-0 on Oct. 15, 2001 in Dallas, Texas followed by victories of 7-0 and 2-1 in 2002 and 2010. Friday's game will be thier first meeting in a NCAA Tournament game.
HOW WE GOT TO THIS POINT
After ending regulation tied at 1-all, West Texas A&M defeated UC-Colorado Springs 4-3 on penalty kicks to move onto the regional final. Both goals were scored in the second half off free kicks.
Dallas Baptist made their way to the regional final win a pair of wins in Golden, Colo. After defeating Westminster 1-0 on Friday, they defeated the top-seeded Colorado Mines on penalty kicks. The Patriots scored first early in the first half but allowed the Orediggers to equalize midway through the second half before advancing on PK's, 3-1.
ALL-REGION AWARDS
Three Lady Buffs earned D2CCA South Central All-Region honors with Cheyenne Orozco and Khadisha Debesette being named to the First Team while Hannah Kelley-Lusk earned Second Team accolades.
The duo of Orozco and Debesette make up one of the top backlines in the nation having only allowed 0.68 goals so far this season with eight shutouts. Orozco was also named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week while being named to the LSC All-Academic and Google Cloud Academic All-District Team as well. Kelley-Lusk, the LSC Player of Year and Forward of the Year, has scored nine goals and six assists for a team-high 24 points in 13 games. The sophomore striker has scored in five of her last seven appearances including a brace in a win over UT Permian Basin on Oct. 5.
I CAN BE YOUR HERO...
Courtney Dippel came up huge for the Lady Buffs in their penalty shootout win over UCCS making three saves none bigger than on the seventh round. The program's all-time saves leader dove to the left to deny NAME and send WT to their first regional final since 2009.
'SHA SHOWING UP WHEN IT MATTERS MOST
Redshirt junior centre back Khadisha Debesette may only have scored four goals during her career with two of those have been game-winner. She was the goal scorer for WT in Sunday's instant classic PK victory in the 60th minute when she go on the end of Emily Avila's cross.
WT HEAD COACH CHAD WEBB
WT head coach Chad Webb, a two-time LSC Coach of the Year, is now in his ninth season at the helm of the Lady Buffs. He is 90-68-19 overall during his time in Canyon. He has led WT to a pair of NCAA appearances during his tenure. Webb won his 50th Lone Star Conference game in WT's 2-1 double overtime victory over MSU Texas earlier in the season.
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and webstreaming will be available for Friday's game. WT Sports Network's James Hadnot and Angelo Pontello will have the call for all three games this weekend For more information, visit the Women's Soccer Schedule Page at GoBuffsGo.com
UP NEXT
Friday's winner will face the winner of UC San Diego and Western Washington for a spot in the Final Four on Sunday at 2 p.m. at The Pitch.
