CANYON, Texas – The No. 17 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M head into the Third Round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championships on Thursday, Dec. 2, when they go head-to-head with No. 16 Cal Poly Pomona in Los Angeles, Calif.  The match is set for 5 p.m. CT at the University Stadium hosted by Cal State – Los Angeles.  
 
The winner of Thursday's match will go on to face the winner of No. 11 Colorado Mesa and No. 6 Cal State-LA in the Regional Quarterfinal match on Saturday, Dec. 4. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and stream will be available for tomorrow's match provided by the Cal State LA athletic communications staff.  Tickets for the match can be bought at the gate prior to kickoff.  General admission tickets will be sold for $10 while students, seniors and children under 12 can purchase tickets for $5
 
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday's match marks the third meeting between the two schools since its series start on Nov. 2, 1997 but the Buffs and Broncos are no strangers when it comes to meeting in the postseason.  In their last matchup, Cal Poly Pomona shutout WT, 2-0, in the 2018 NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals in Azusa, Calif.  The Broncos went on to fall in overtime to Wester Chester in the semifinal matches.  
 
SUPER-REGION 4
Cal State-Los Angeles earned the No. 1 seed in the Super-Region 4 followed by Midwestern State in second with each hosting a side of the bracket.  Azusa Pacific is the third seed in the regional followed by Colorado Mesa, Colorado School of Mines, West Texas A&M, Cal Poly Pomona, CSU-Pueblo, Seattle Pacific and Biola. 
 
SCOUTING CAL POLY POMONA
The Broncos enter tomorrow's match with a 14-4-3 overall record after recording a pair of victories in the first and second rounds of the postseason tournament.  Cal Poly Pomona shutout Biola 5-0 in the opening round before upsetting No. 8 Midwestern State, 1-0, in Wichita Falls.  Matt O'Sullivan is in his third season at the helm of the men's program since taking over 2019.  
 
Cal Poly Pomona has outshot opponents 51-21 while averaging 2.43 goals per match on 14.7 shots with a .92 shot-on-goal percentage.  Fourteen Broncos have scored this season while three players have reached double figures led by Paul Henschke with 13 goals and three assists for a team-high 29 points.  Eduardo Faria and Jerry Ramirez also have reach double-digits scoring 10 goals each for the Broncos offense. 
 
Jordan Aldama, a native of California, has seen every moment between the post for the Broncos as the he posts a .97 goals against average with 14 victories.  The senior has earned nine shutouts this season and has faced 208 shots with 58 saves for a .73 save-percentage. 
 
BUFFS IN THE POSTSEASON
Thursday's match continues WT's seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament since its first run in 1997.  In 2018, the Buffs claimed their first South Central Regional Championship with a 1-0 victory over Colorado Mesa.  Former Buff Callum Challinor connected with the golden goal in the 93^rd-minute to send WT to the NCAA Quarterfinals. 
 
A LOOK AT THE HERD
The Buffs have outscored opponents 45-34, averaging 2.50 goals per match on 15.6 shots including a .439 shot-on-goal percentage.  Giancarlo Saldana registered his fourth brace of the season and has scored a team-high 11 goals followed by Stefan Andjelic with eight and Denis Herrera with six while Ben Siri paces the offense with seven assists.  WT's defense has limited opponents to 10.8 shots per match with goalkeeper Tom Miles recording 13 victories with 45 saves for a .625 save-percentage. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
WT advanced to the third round after a 3-2 upset over No. 10 Azusa Pacific in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.  Freshman goalkeeper Tom Miles registered a career high seven saves to protect the Buffs lead to move WT to 14-4 overall.  Giancarlo Saldana scored twice for the Buffs including the game-winner while Ben Siri recorded the tying score in the 41^st-minute.
 
BUTCH LAUFFER
Butch Lauffer is in his 31st season as head men's soccer coach at West Texas A&M University.  The Buffs match against UT Permian Basin marked Lauffer's 550^th-career victory at WT.  As the longest tenured head coach in WT history, Lauffer has coached the men to 29 consecutive non-losing seasons and the women to 12-plus victories in 12 seasons. Lauffer has recorded a 364-160-39 (.678) record at the helm of the Buffs with a 553-227-56 (.693) overall record at WT.