WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State coach Jeff Trimble was worried about the Mustangs' recent ascent into the NSCAA/adidas national poll going into Friday night's match with Texas A&M-Commerce.

But the No. 24 ranking had the appearance of validation as Midwestern State scored two early goals and put away the Lions for a 3-1 Lone Star Conference win at the MSU Soccer Field.

"I was concerned about our confidence level because this is such a laid back bunch of girls," Trimble said. "I was afraid it would work against us, but it did help us."

It's validation that's not only shown in the rankings as the Mustangs are also third in the latest NCAA Division II Midwest Region Rankings, but also in a growing confidence and swagger of a team featuring 18 of 25 players with less than two years of collegiate experience.

The opportunistic Mustangs jumped out to an early lead after sophomore Katy Lukert buried a bungled Texas A&M-Commerce clearing attempt in the bottom right corner of the net to give the MSU a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.

Eight minutes later, Lukert turned into a creator as she fed Brandy O'Neal with a lead pass into the box to give the Mustangs a commanding 2-0 lead in the game's 13th minute.

"It's nice for us to get our chance and score," Trimble said. "Scoring first definitely helps."

Scoring first is something the Mustangs haven't done in three of the last four games as they rallied for conference wins over Southwestern Oklahoma State and Abilene Christian after falling behind 1-0, but couldn't overcome Incarnate Word in a 3-0 loss last week in San Antonio.

"But this is a team that is good on restarts and we knew we'd have to keep pressuring especially when we got up early," Trimble said. "They are really good on restarts and can hit the long ball."

The Mustangs failed to put the pressure on Lacy Alexander and paid the price when the sophomore forward struck a clean shot from 25 yards into the top of the net to cut the MSU advantage to 2-1 in the 26th minute.

But the Mustangs fought hard to take a two-goal lead into intermission when freshman Ashli Smith knocked in a cross from Lauren Smith on the right wing for her sixth goal of the season for the final tally of the match.

The Midwestern State defense limited the Lions to four shots in the second half to seal the win.

"Cassidy (Guice) and Moose (Melissa Brown) played smart and were solid with a lot of balls coming down on them," Trimble said.

Midwestern State, which is in the midst of a five-match homestand, improved to 8-2-2 on the season and 4-1 in the Lone Star Conference, while Texas A&M-Commerce dropped to 7-8-0 and 3-3.

The Mustangs play host to Texas Woman's University Sunday afternoon at the MSU Soccer Field. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.