Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Links
Saturday, September 21	1:00 p.m. CT	Hawaii Pacific	Nampa, Idaho	NNU Soccer and LAX Field	Stats | NNU YouTube | Game Notes

 
CANYON, Texas – After falling to Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, the West Texas A&M men's soccer team closes out its road trip to Idaho with a neutral site contest against Hawaii Pacific. The Buffs and Sharks will take the pitch at 1 p.m. CT in Nampa, Idaho.
 
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
This marks the first time WT and Hawaii Pacific have met on the pitch in the Buffs' 34 years as a program.
 
SCOUTING HAWAII PACIFIC
The Sharks face the Buffs on Saturday afternoon in search of the program's first win on the season. Hawaii Pacific has lost its previous four contests including a 1-0 game against Lubbock Christian on Thursday. The Sharks have been shutout in each of their four games although Kelly Takara leads the team with seven shots including four on goal. Kevin Harr has played every minute in goal for Hawaii Pacific. During his 360 minutes of action, Harr has allowed eight goals with 11 saves on 51 shots for a 2.00 goals against average and .579 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 377-174-55 (.668) record at the helm of the Buffs with a 567-241-71 (.685) overall record at WT.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Buffs couldn't preserve a 1-0 halftime lead on Thursday night in Nampa, Idaho, falling to Northwest Nazarene 2-1. After being denied twice in the game's opening minutes, Gabriel Nevarez netted WT's lone goal of the evening in the 22^nd minute off a through ball from Sharif Mohammed. After a Nighthawks foul early in the second half, an errant pass on the restart went to Jonathan Cardona. In a one-on-one with Bryce Cottle, Johnathan Cardona slipped the ball under Cottle's arm to tie the game at one. The Nighthawks found the game-winning goal with seven minutes to play as Johnny Ramirez sent a through ball past the back line for Cardona. With Cottle off his line, Cardona calmly placed the ball into the open net.
 
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
The Buffs finish out non-conference play on Wednesday, Sept. 25 against longtime rival and No. 19-ranked Midwestern State. Action is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at Stang Park in Wichita Falls.