RICHARDSON, TEXAS – West Texas A&M Men's Soccer was projected to finish seventh in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) Preseason Poll as announced by the league office Tuesday afternoon. Senior Felix Casas (Offensive), sophomore Octavio Estrada-Vazquez (Defensive), and senior Luke Southerington (Goalkeeper) were named the players to watch for the Buffs.
 
The LSC Preseason Poll is voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members. West Texas A&M accumulated 175 points to sit in seventh.
 
Reigning National Champion and 2025 LSC Regular Season and Tournament Champion Midwestern State came in first place with 351 points and 30 first-place votes. Their trio of Parker Plaxico (Offensive), Davis Mays (Defensive), and Jake Morris (Goalkeeper) were named Preseason Player of the Year at their respective positions.
 
2026 LSC Preseason Poll
1          Midwestern State (351 points, 30 first-place votes)
2          St. Edward's (293 points)
3          UT Dallas (290 points, two first-place votes)
4          Lubbock Christian (241 points, one first-place vote)
5          UT Tyler (198 points)
6          DBU (187 points)
7          West Texas A&M (175 points)                              
8          St. Mary's (161 points)                                       
9          Oklahoma Christian (133 points)                    
10        Sul Ross State (75 points)                                
11        Texas A&M International (74 points)                
 
2025 saw West Texas A&M produce a 6-9-2 record with a 3-5-2 mark in LSC play. WT would finish seventh in the conference and reach the LSC Tournament for the seventh straight year. The Buffs would fall 2-1 to Lubbock Christian in the quarterfinals, ending their season.
 
Head Coach Butch Lauffer enters his 36th season with WT ahead of the 2026 season. Since 2016, Lauffer and the Buffs have made the conference tournament every year (three Heartland Conference & seven LSC) and accumulated a 98-52-28 record in that span with three NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
Senior Felix Casas was named the Offensive Player to Watch for West Texas A&M. Casas enters his second season with the Buffs after transferring from UT Rio Grande Valley. He played in 15 games a season ago while making six starts. Casas logged 479 minutes and totaled four points from two goal to go with seven shots (five on goal).
 
Sophomore defenseman Octavio Estrada-Vazquez was named the Defensive Player to Watch for the Buffs. Estrada-Vazquez is coming off an impressive freshman campaign where he played all 17 games with 16 starts on the backline. He would finish second on the team in minutes with 1432 and played all 90 minutes in 13 games.
 
Senior Luke Southerington was named the Goalkeeper to Watch for WT. Southerington did not appear in any games last season but started and played in 12 games in 2024. He produced 44 saves with a 1.25 goals-against average in 1078 minutes while tallying three shutouts.
 
Captaining the Buffs in 2026 will be seniors D'Jonte Davis and Ben Scotford. Davis is the lone returning All-LSC honoree for WT who had a breakout season in 2025. He started all 17 games while finishing third on the team in minutes with 1384. The Prosper, Texas native led the Buffs in points (14), goals (six), assists (two), shots (38), and shots on goal (20) as he earned Third Team All-LSC. Scotford returns for his second season with WT after starting and playing 13 games in the midfield in 2025. He tallied six points from three goals to go with 19 shots (11 on goal) in 828 minutes. The Monmouth, Wales native was second on the team in shots and shots on goal while being third in points.
 
Other notable returners for the Buffs will be seniors Ziv Shlimak, Desire Essis, Zach Kos, Joe Ballenger, and junior Delahmu Reeves. Shlimak made 16 starts last season while logging 1250 minutes on defense. He also tallied four points from a goal and two assists. Essis finished second on the team in points after producing three goals and an assist at forward. He started eight games and notched 544 minutes with 14 shots. Kos started nine games in goal for WT in 2025 and recorded a 1.11 goals against average with 36 saves on a 78.3 save percentage. The defenseman Ballenger started five of 15 games with 679 minutes of action. Reeves produced three points from a goal and assist along with 15 shots (seven on goal) in 480 minutes at forward.
 
West Texas A&M will kick off their 2026 season on Thursday, August 27 at 12:00 p.m. against Adams State at The Pitch.
 
For all the latest on West Texas A&M Men's Soccer, stay tuned to gobuffsgo.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.