CANYON, Texas – The Buffaloes of West Texas A&M shutout Oklahoma Christian to clinch the Lone Star Conference regular season championship title on Senior Night.
WT defeated the Eagles with a 3-0 decision to move to 6-1 in league play while OC dropped to 1-7 to end their abbreviated conference season. With Tuesday's victory, the Buffs remain undefeated against OC as they lead the all-time series 11-0.
THE BASICS
The Match: West Texas A&M 3, Oklahoma Christian 0
Records: West Texas A&M 6-1-0 (6-1-0 LSC), Oklahoma Christian (1-7-1, 1-7-0 LSC)
Venue: The Pitch
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Buffs attacked early and often as they outshot the Eagles 28-4 with 15 landing on frame for a new team season-high.
Oklahoma Christian's best look in the first half came from a shot by Jesus Garcia but was blocked by the Buffs defense to avoid early scoring. Beau Johnson earned his first score of the season as he beat two defenders to give the Buffs a 1-0 lead.
WT doubled their lead in the 33rd-minute as Marshall Ball found Giancarlo Saldana midfield for the junior to finish the pass with a missile from 30-yards out to lead at halftime.
The Buffs continued to put pressure on the Eagles defense as they came out with five shots in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. OC looked to cut WT's lead in the 68th and 70th minutes with shots by Salva Cotaina and Zach Snow but were both denied by Alexander Vencel to keep the shutout.
Saldana earned his third brace of the season as the Fort Worth product completed a pass from Stefan Andjelic to make it 3-0 in the 85th minute.
Ten Buffs registered shots against Oklahoma Christian led by Saldana with a season-high eight followed by Andjelic, Sean Ryan and Johnson who each tallied three. Vencel earned his 20nd career shutout between the post for the Buffs as he totaled three saves.
UP NEXT
The Buffs complete the regular season on April 6 as they head to Wichita Falls to face Midwestern State (5-2-1, 4-2-1 LSC) at Stang Park with kickoff set for 5:30 p.m. CT.
