Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Links
Thursday, September 19	7:00 p.m. CT	Northwest Nazarene	Nampa, Idaho	NNU Soccer and LAX Field	Stats | NNU YouTube | Game Notes

 
CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's soccer team looks to return to the win column on Thursday, Sept. 19 at Northwest Nazarene. The Buffs, 1-2-1 overall, take on the Nighthawks (0-3-1) at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the NNU Soccer and LAX Field.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and broadcast will be available for the season opener provided by the Northwest Nazarene athletic communications department with the game aired on NNU Sports YouTube page. For more information visit GoBuffsGo.com. 
 
All TIME SERIES
WT leads the all-time series with Northwest Nazarene, 2-1-1. The Buffs and Nighthawks first met in 2021 and last met Sept. 14, 2023. In the last meeting, WT defeated Northwest Nazarene 1-0 in Canyon. The two teams met twice during the 2022 season with the Nighthawks defending their home turf in the regular season matchup before tying with the Buffs in the NCAA Tournament, advancing on penalty kicks. WT is 0-1 against Northwest Nazarene in Nampa.
 
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Nighthawks go into Thursday's game on a three-game losing streak with an 0-3-1 overall record. During their three game skid, Northwest Nazarene has been outscored 9-1. On the season, the Nighthawks have scored just two goals with Alex Barragan and Caleb Putney scoring one each while Johnny Ramirez accounts for the team's lone assist. Gerardo Fonte has played every minute in net for Northwest Nazarene. During his 360 minutes of action, Fonte has allowed 10 goals with 15 saves on 56 shots faced for a 2.50 goals against average and .600 save percentage.
 
BUTCH LAUFFER
Butch Lauffer is in his 34th season as head men's soccer coach at West Texas A&M University. As the longest tenured head coach in WT history, Lauffer has coached the men to 31 consecutive non-losing seasons and the women to 12-plus victories in 12 seasons. Lauffer has recorded a 377-173-55 (.669) record at the helm of the Buffs with a 567-240-71 (.686) overall record at WT.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The West Texas A&M men's soccer team couldn't answer a 62^nd minute goal from the Fort Lewis Skyhawks, falling in the contest by a score of 1-0. The Skyhawks would score the game's only goal in the 62nd minute as Julian Rojas led Citron into space with a forward pass. After Rojas' initial cross found itself blocked, Rojas won the second ball inside the box. With a one tap pass to Duenes Gonzalez, the Fort Lewis forward buried the ball in the top corner for the go-ahead goal. WT wouldn't go away quietly as the Buffs marched down the field after the kickoff. Off a give-and-go from Matteo Landais, Zakaria Daaou slipped through the Skyhawks back line where he sliced a shot across the defense. Daaou's shot missed tying the game by a matter of inches as the attempt hit the back post and came out.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
Reigning Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament champion Midwestern State received all but one of the 33 possible first-place votes for a total of 362 points. WT finished second in the voting with a total of 303 points followed by St. Mary's with 275 points and a first-place vote. Dallas Baptist (266) and Texas A&M International (211) round out the top five with Lubbock Christian (179), Oklahoma Christian (174), Eastern New Mexico (136), and UT Tyler (124) following. St. Edward's (113) and Sul Ross State (35) finish out the poll.
 
Midwestern State's Mere Escobar and Juan Galindo were tabbed the LSC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, while St. Mary's Johnny Thurbin earned Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
WT has a day off in Idaho before taking on Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. CT.