CANYON, TEXAS – West Texas A&M Men's Soccer return to The Pitch this week as they host No. 25 Fort Hays State on Thursday, September 10 and Newman on Saturday, September 12. Both games are set to be played at 4:00 p.m.
 
Follow the Buffs
Both games will be streamed live on Flo Sports (registration required). Live Stats will be provided by West Texas A&M for both games (Thursday Saturday). Tickets to both games can be purchased here.
 
Last Time Out
West Texas A&M hit the road this past Saturday as they traveled to Bethany, Oklahoma to take on RV Southern Nazarene.  
 
Late Goal Dooms Buffs in 1-0 Loss to RV Southern Nazarene- September 5, 2026
The early stages of the game served as a fine defensive showing for the Buffs as they successfully defended a pair of corner kicks in the opening 12 minutes. Offensively, WT found an early grove with five shots in the first 20 minutes, although none landed on goal. Southern Nazarene's offense would continue to test the defense of the Buffaloes as they generated a pair of shots on goal in the 19th and 23rd minutes, both of which would be saved by Bryce Cottle. In the 27th minute, West Texas A&M nearly got on the board as they would be fouled in the box leading to a penalty kick. Ben Scotford took the kick and his shot would be saved by SNU goalkeeper Aimar Aramendia. Both teams had their chances in the first half as WT tallied eight shots (one on goal) and a corner kick while the Crimson Storm came away with four shots (two on goal) and four corners, but the game would stand at a 0-0 score headed into the half.
 
The start of the second half saw both teams continue to create chances as WT recorded two shots and two corners in the first 12 minutes while SNU had three shots and a corner. The defenses of both teams would settle in and ramp up their physicality. Their would be 14 combined fouls in the second half. The two teams would trade shots on goal in the 71st minute for WT and 79th for Southern Nazarene, but both would be saved. In the 88th minute, the Crimson Storm would find the back of the net with Pedro Belmont scoring the go-ahead and ultimately game-winning goal. The Buffaloes made one last push with D'Jonte Davis firing a shot on goal which would lead to a corner kick for WT, but nothing came to fruition as the score finalized at 1-0 in favor of Southern Nazarene.
 
Top Buffs

• D'Jonte Davis played all 90 minutes at forward and registered four shots with two coming on goal. This was his third game playing 82+ minutes this season. He has fired 2+ shots in every game.
• Ben Scotford logged 78 minutes in the midfield and produced two shots with one on goal. This was his second consecutive game recording 2+ shots.
• Bryce Cottle started in goal for the first time this season and notched three saves in all 90 minutes.

 
West Texas A&M Statistical Leaders (Amount)

• Points- Myles Taylor, Felix Casas (3)
• Goals- Myles Taylor, Felix Casas, Oumar Berete, Alon Ben Ami (1)
• Assists- Myles Taylor, Felix Casas, D'Jonte Davis, Ido Einstein, Edward Acosta (1)
• Game-Winning Goals- Myles Taylor (1)
• Shots on Goal- D'Jonte Davis (4)
• Shots- D'Jonte Davis (11)
• Minutes by a Field Player- D'Jonte Davis (324)
• 90 Minute Games by a Field Player- Damron Atkins, Octavio Estrada-Vazquez (2)
• Saves- Luke Southerington (5)
• Save Percentage- Bryce Cottle (80.0%)
• Goals Allowed Average- Bryce Cottle (0.90)
• Goalkeeper Wins- Luke Southerington (1)
• Shutouts- Luke Southerington (1)

 
West Texas A&M Team Statistics (LSC Ranking)

• 12.50 shots per game (3^rd) | 5.75 shots on goal per game (2^nd)
• 3.25 points per game (8^th) | 1.00 goals per game (8^th) | 1.25 assists per game (6^th)
• 2.75 goals allowed per game (10^th) | 2.25 saves per game (9^th)
• 11.25 fouls per game (5^th) | 4.50 corner kicks per game (8^th)

 
(all stats accumulated 9/8/26)
 
Series History
Thursday's game against Fort Hays State will be the 11th all-time meeting between the programs with WT leading the series 5-4-1. The Tigers have won the past two meetings with the last game occurring in 2015 in which Fort Hays State won 2-1 in overtime.
 
Saturday's game against Newman will be game eight in the series between the Buffaloes and Jets with WT holding an unbeaten record of 6-0-1. The teams faced off last year where the Buffs would come out victorious.
 
Buffaloes Claim a 1-0 Victory in the Season Opener- September 4, 2026
The first half saw a defensive battle between the two teams as nine combined shots came in the first 45 minutes with just one of them by the Buffaloes. Zach Kos was steady in goal as the Austin product registered three saves on eight shots during the first half.
 
WT got on the scoreboard at the 51:29 mark as Venancio Calderon fired a shot from 18-yards out that found the lower left-hand side of the net for the 1-0 advantage. The remainder of the second half saw the Jets take another six shots, but the stingy WT defense battled their way to a shutout 1-0 win.
 
Kos was stellar in the net for the Buffs, registering six saves in his complete game shutout.
 
Scouting Fort Hays State
The Fort Hays State University Tigers come into this match holding a 2-1-1 record with wins over No. 13 Rockhurst and William Jewell with their tie being against RV Fort Lewis. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 25 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll and opened the season ranked No. 3. FHSU is coming off a tremendous 2025 season where they went 20-1-3 with an 11-0-1 record in the Great American Conference (GAC)/Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Tigers would win the GAC Regular Season and Tournament Title as they went to the NCAA Tournament. Fort Hays State would win the Super Region III Title before falling to Rollins 1-0 in the National Semifinal. The Tigers were projected first in the GAC/MIAA Preseason Poll.
 
The offseason saw the Tigers lose eight All-Conference honorees made up of three All-Americans and seven All-Region players. Headlining that group is 2025 National Player of the Year Elias Ovelar Semeniuk who produced 35 points from 15 goals and five assists. Tadgh Walsh and Mamadou Oumar Ndiaye were both All-American selections. Walsh accumulated 14 points from four goals and six assists. He was also named GAC Midfielder of the Year. Oumar Ndiaye logged 1451 minutes in the midfield and came away with nine points from three goals and assists.
 
Returning for the Tigers in 2026 is All-American Payton Roehrich and All-Region players Juan Linares and Oliver Wright. Roehrich started 23 games in goal and produced a 0.43 goals allowed average with 54 saves on an 85.7 percentage. He went 19-1-3 with 11 shutouts. Linares finished third on the team in scoring 24 points stemming from nine goals and six assists. He was third on the team in shots (40) and shots on goal (21). Wright scored five goals, the fourth highest mark on the team in 900 minutes of action.
 
Through four games, Francisco Degiorgi and Len Valkema both have four points to lead the team. Degiorgi has one goal and two assists while Valkema has two goals. Roehrich has started all four games in net and tallied a 0.51 goals allowed averaged with 11 saves on an 84.6 percentage. Linares leads the team in shots with seven and has a goal and assist.
 
Head Coach Alex Nichols enters his third season with Fort Hays State in 2026. Nichols has led the Tigers to a 33-5-7 mark during his tenure with two NCAA Tournament appearances. He was named GAC Coach of the Year in 2025.
 
Scouting Newman
The Newman University Jets come into this game holding a 1-3 record with their lone win coming against William Jewell. The Jets are in the midst of a three-match losing streak with loses to Rockhurst (2-1), Oklahoma Christian (3-1), and CSU Pueblo (4-1). Newman is coming off a 2025 season where they tallied a 7-5-7 record with a 4-4-4 mark in the GAC/MIAA. The Jets would reach the conference tournament where they would be defeated 2-2 against Rogers State in penalty kicks. NU came into this season projected to finish third in the GAC/MIAA standings.
 
The offseason saw the Jets lose seven of their nine All-Conference selections from last season including one of their two first team performers in Gabriel Dias Juliani. Dias Juliani led the team in scoring with 18 points from seven goals and four assists. Gustavo Dias Juliani and Gregoire Henri were both Second Team selections. Gustavo led the team in assists with seven while Henri was second on the team in scoring with 12 points from five goals and two assists.
 
Yohsuke Ono (First Team) ad Daiki Okada (Honorable Mention) are the two returning All-Conference Honorees for the Jets. Ono compiled 12 points from four goals and assists while leading the team in shots with 47. Okada logged 1540 minutes and produced nine points from two goals and five assists.
 
Through four games, eight different Jets have scored a point with Jonathan Garcia, Gael Gonzalez, Tomas Melon, Richard Wiegand, and Adam Zaid scoring goals. Guilherme Borges has started three games and played in all four in goal. He has a 2.00 goals allowed average with eight saves on a 53.3 percentage.
 
Head Coach Victor Domingues enters his fourth season with Newman in 2026. Domingues has notched a 19-25-11 record in his tenure and has reached the GAC/MIAA Tournament the past two seasons.
 
Newman will take on LSC foe Lubbock Christian on Thursday before facing the Buffaloes on Saturday.
 
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.