CANYON, TEXAS – West Texas A&M Men's Soccer hit the road this Saturday as they take on RV Southern Nazarene on Saturday, September 5. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
 
Follow the Buffs
Saturday's game will be streamed live on the GAC Sports Network (registration required). Live Stats will be provided by Southern Nazarene.
 
Last Time Out
West Texas A&M opened up their season this past week as they hosted Adams State and Fort Lewis before traveling to Colorado Christian.
 
Buffs Offense Explodes for Four Goals in Shutout Win in Season Opener- August 27, 2026
The Buffaloes came out of the gates strong as they landed four shots on goal in the first 24 minutes of the game. D'Jonte Davis, Renson Jr. Sayers, Ben Scotford, and Octavio Estrada-Vazquez all produced quality chances but were unable to find the back of the net. WT stayed persistent on the offensive end as they continued to apply pressure on Adams State throughout the first half. The Buffs were stout defensively as they controlled possession but also limited the Grizzlies to only two shots in the first half with neither landing on goal. The 30th minute saw the Buffs break through as Damron Atkins crossed a ball from the left corner into the box. Franky Oviedo would make first contact before Myles Taylor headed the ball for a shot, but it would be saved by Bryan Amezcua. Taylor stuck with the chance off the rebound and scored a header to give the Buffs a 1-0 lead. West Texas A&M would take that lead into the halftime break.
 
Moving into the second half, the offense continued to hum as West Texas A&M scored two goals in the opening three minutes. The first of the two came off a throw in from Davis who put great touch on the ball as he slung it into the box in front of the Buffs bench. Taylor would win the ball as he hit it over to Casas. The senior made a quick swim move to corral the ball and fired a sliding kick with his left foot to extend the lead to 2-0. In the 48th minute it was Casas again creating a scoring chance as he delivered a beautiful ball off a corner kick right in front of the box. Junior Oumar Berete showed off the vertical with a great leap to head the ball into the meshing as the Buffs now led 3-0. West Texas A&M continued to lock down defensively as the Grizzlies struggled to create offensive chances. As time ticked away, WT would add one more goal in the 89th minute by way of freshman Alon Ben Ami. On a quick counter by the Buffs, Ido Einstein pushed a pass through three Grizzlies near the top of the box. While in stride, Edward Acosta backtapped the ball with his left foot to a streaking Ben Ami who fired the ball into the top left corner for the exclamation point. The score would finalize at 4-0 with the Buffs coming away with the shutout victory to open 2026.
 
Top Buffs

• Felix Casas set a career-high with three points coming from a goal and assist. Casas played 63 minutes and added three shots with two landing on goal.
• Myles Taylor also scored three points from a goal and an assist in his first game as a Buff. Taylor played 63 minutes at forward and totaled three shots with all three landing on goal.
• Alon Ben Ami played 33 minutes and scored his first collegiate goal to go with two shots which both landed on goal.

 
Buffs Fall 7-0 to Fort Lewis College- August 29, 2026
Fort Lewis would burst out of the gates with a quick 2-0 in the first 10 minutes following a goal from a corner kick and counterattack. In the 16th minute, the Buffs would be called for a red card and be forced to play with 10 men the rest of the way. The Skyhawks added their third goal of the half in the 27th minute off a penalty kick as they ultimately took a 3-0 lead in halftime. West Texas A&M trailed in possession during the first half and only fired two shots, both of which from D'Jonte Davis.
 
The second half saw similar results as FLC would tack on four more goals throughout the half. The Buffs would again trail in possession and were limited offensively by the Skyhawks defense. The score would finalize with WT falling 7-0 for their first loss of the season.
 
Top Buffs

• D'Jonte Davis tallied three shots with one landing on goal in 66 minutes. This was Davis' second straight game with a shot on goal.
• Ido Einstein played 54 minutes on defense and landed a shot on goal.
• Edward Acosta also contributed a shot on goal in his 21 minutes of action.

 
Buffs Shutout in 3-0 Loss to Colorado Christian- September 1, 2026
The Buffs would produce a strong defensive start to the game as they didn't allow a shot through the first 24 minutes of the game. WT would successfully defend consecutive corner kicks by CCU in the 22nd minute to keep a zero on the board. West Texas A&M would control possession for much of the half and create a few chances off set piece, although nothing came to fruition. The Cougars would break the tie in the 30th minute as they scored a header off a cross to take the 1-0 lead. The Buffaloes would generate more shots to end the half with D'Jonte Davis firing the best chance off a free kick just outside the box, but he would miss high. WT would ultimately go into halftime trailing 1-0 with CCU converting the only shot on goal in the half.
 
Right out of the break, the Buffs would stop three corner kicks in a three-minute span to keep the deficit to one. Delahmu Reeves recorded the first shot on goal for WT in the 53rd minute, but it would be saved. The 69th minute saw West Texas A&M generate a quality scoring chance as Alon Ben Ami crossed a ball into the box from the right side of the field. Two Buffs would miss on a header chance, but the ball landed at the feet of Octavio Estrada-Vazquez whose shot went long. Four minutes later, the Cougars would double their lead as Casey DeVito scored off a rebound following a save from Luke Southerington. CCU tacked on one more goal in the 79th minute as the score would finalize at 3-0 in favor of Colorado Christian. WT would be limited to two shots on goal and two corner kicks in the game.
 
Top Buffs

• Desire Essis tallied three shots with one landing on goal in 33 minutes.
• Delahmu Reeves made his season debut and played 48 minutes in the midfield. He fired two shots with one landing on goal.
• D'Jonte Davis tallied two shots in 86 minutes.

 
LSC Preseason Poll
Coming into this season, West Texas A&M was projected to finish seventh in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) Preseason Poll. The Buffs produced a 6-9-2 record with a 3-5-2 mark in conference play as they finished seventh in the standings. WT reached the LSC Tournament for the seventh straight season but would fall 2-1 to Lubbock Christian in the quarterfinals.
 
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)                
 
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 Desire Essis, Zach Kos, Joe Ballenger, and junior Delahmu Reeves. 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.
 
Series History
Saturday's game against Southern Nazarene will be the 10th all-time meeting between the Buffaloes and the Crimson Storm with WT holding a 6-2-1 record. The teams faced off last year where SNU would come away with a victory.
 
Buffs Drop a 1-0 Heartbreaker to Southern Nazarene- September 13, 2025
The first half between WT and Southern Nazarene saw both teams struggling to find the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 tie at the end of 45 minutes. The Buffs applied early pressure with Connor Duggan taking a shot in the 5th minute and D'Jonte Davis hitting the right woodwork in the 19th minute. Southern Nazarene responded with several attempts, including a shot by Lucas Beja that hit the top woodwork in the 34th minute. Both defenses held firm despite numerous fouls, as the teams combined for a total of 12 fouls in the half.
 
The second half opened with a series of fouls, as both teams struggled to maintain composure. Southern Nazarene's Baptiste Auvray committed a foul at 53:25, which was soon followed by another from Adnan Boulaghmal at 54:38. Despite the Buffs' defensive efforts, Southern Nazarene's Junior Duran broke the deadlock, scoring the only goal of the match at 74:56. The Buffs' attempts to equalize were thwarted by Southern Nazarene's goalkeeper Aimar Aramendia, who made several crucial saves, including one against Davis in the 76th minute. The match concluded with Southern Nazarene securing a 1-0 victory, with the Buffs unable to capitalize on their scoring opportunities.
 
Davis led the Buffs with five shots, including one on goal. Ben Scotford added pressure offensively with three shots, one of which was on target. Goalkeeper Zach Kos recorded three saves, conceding only one goal on 13 shots faced. Delahmu Reeves also contributed with a shot on goal.
 
Scouting Southern Nazarene
The Southern Nazarene University Crimson Storm come into this match holding a 1-1 record with a 2-0 loss to Maryville and a 2-1 win against McKendree. The Crimson Storm are currently receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll. SNU is coming off a 6-8-3 record in 2025 with a 4-6-2 mark in the Great American Conference (GAC). The Crimson Storm did not reach postseason play. Southern Nazarene was projected to finish tied for third in the GAC Preseason Poll.
 
The offseason saw the Crimson Storm lose three of their five All-Conference selections including Keshon Carter (First Team), Junior Duran (Second Team), and Baptiste Auvray (Second Team). Carter led all SNU field players in minutes with 1486 on defense. Duran scored eight points from four goals and led the team in shots with 31 while Auvray logged 1290 minutes with one goal and an assist in the midfield.
 
SNU returns Francisco Chong and Tiago Moreira who were both named an Honorable Mention All-GAC. Chong led the team in points last season with nine from four goals and an assist. Moreira scored three goals for six points with 14 shots. Starting goalkeeper Aimar Aramendia also returns after starting all 17 games last year. Aramendia tallied 58 saves with a 70.7 percentage and a 1.43 goals allowed average. He also notched three shutouts.
 
Through two games, freshman Wesley Rodriguez has scored both goals for the Crimson Storm with four shots and two shots on goal. Aramendia has started both games between the pipes and has produced eight saves and a 1.50 goals allowed average.
 
Head Coach Trevor Harmon enters his eighth season with Southern Nazarene ahead of the 2026 season. Harmon guided the Crimson Storm to a four-peat of GAC Regular Season Championships from 2021-2024. He is a three-time GAC Coach of the Year.
 
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.