CANYON, Texas – Junior Denis Herrera's game-winning goal in the 76^th minute led the No. 11 West Texas A&M Buffaloes to a 3-2 season opening victory over Drury on Sunday afternoon.  
 
Giancarlo Saldana opened scoring in the 2^nd-minute with his 10^th career goal for the Maroon and White after striking off a missed placed pass by Drury's keeper Yannick Lamers.  The Panthers evened the match with a shot from Joshua Lewis-Evans for their first score of the season to make it 1-1 at the half. 
 
After the Buffs drew the corner kick in the 66^th minute, Stefan Andjelic added to the board when the senior midfielder completed a shot off a header from the Panthers defense to take a 2-1 lead. 
 
The Panthers went down a man after receiving a red card in the 74^th-minute before WT played it to their advantage with a score by Herrera.  The Tegucigalpa, Honduras product completed a pass from midfield by Ben Siri to put the Buffs ahead 3-1.  
 
With under four minutes left in regulation, Jacob Schmidt brought the match within one but the Buffs defense held the Panthers to secure the home victory. 
 
The Buffs outshot Drury 20-7 with seven shots on target led by Saldana and Siri with two each. Erick Perez earned his victory between the posts as the freshman keeper allowed both goals through 88 minutes of play.
 
WT will return to The Pitch on Saturday, Sept. 11 to go head-to-head with nationally-ranked No. 19 Northeastern State with kickoff set for 1 p.m. CT.