Midwestern State vs. Colorado Mesa
Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014 | 2 p.m. (Central Time)
Walker Field | Grand Junction, Colo.
Records: Midwestern State (13-3-2); Colorado Mesa (15-3-1)
Video: CMUMavericks.com  
Audio: CMUMavericks.com 
Live Stats: CMUMavericks.com  
 
ON THE PITCH
- Midwestern State battles Colorado Mesa in the second round of the NCAA Division II postseason tournament Sunday at Walker Field in Grand Junction. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (Central Time).
- The winner advances to take on St. Edward's (Texas) for the South Central Region title at the site of the highest remaining seed of the West Region next weekend.
 
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
- Colorado Mesa makes its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
- The Mavericks had their 12-match winning streak snapped in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference semifinals last week against Colorado-Colorado Springs at Walker Field.
- CMU opened the season hosting the eventual South Central Region playoff field. The Mavericks took a 2-0 win over St. Edward's before falling to Midwestern State 2-1 in double overtime.
- Colorado Mesa claimed the RMAC regular season title rolling through the league with a 13-1 mark. Its regular season loss also came to Colorado-Colorado Springs -- both by 3-0 counts.
- The Mavericks claimed the 2013 RMAC Postseason Tournament title, but did not advance to the NCAAs.
- CMU ranks fifth in NCAA Division II in shutout percentage logging a total of 11 clean sheets.
- Sophomore forward Roy Abergil paces the Colorado Mesa attack with 11 goals and three assists while ranking among national leader with seven game winning tallies.
- Abergil had a five-match stretch of point scoring snapped in the RMAC semifinals which including five goals and three assists.
- Junior midfielder Nestor Escobar is CMU's top playmaker with two goals and seven assists.
- Senior goalkeeper Micah Conrads boasts a 0.67 goals against average in 945 minutes between the posts.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
- Midwestern State meets Colorado Mesa for the second time on the pitch Sunday afternoon at Walker Field.
- The Mustangs claimed a 2-1 win in two overtimes in the only other meeting earlier this season in Grand Junction.
- MSU rallied from a goal down with 12 minutes to play in regulation as senior midfielder Andrew Power notched the equalizer on a penalty kick in the 81st minute then junior forward Albert Rodriguez struck the game winner in the 108th minute on Sept. 7.
 
MUSTANGS NOTEBOOK
- Midwestern State makes its 10th NCAA appearance since the start of the 2002 season and eighth in the last nine years Saturday at Walker Field.
- The Mustangs boasts national quarterfinal showings in 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2010 while moving on to the Final Four in 2007 and 2010.
- MSU is 12-7-3 in its nine previous NCAA Division II postseason appearances.
- Senior forward Len Smith (Baton Rouge, La. / Wakeland HS (Tulsa)) became the 38th member of MSU's 50-Point Club with a two-goal outing last week against Southwestern Christian. He added two more tallies against Texas A&M International to boost his career totals to 26 goals and five assists over the past three seasons for a total of 57 points.
- Senior midfielder Andrew Power (Waterford, Ireland / St. Paul's Secondary (Northern Iowa ACC)) needs one point to become the 39th member of the 50-Point Club. He tallied his team-best 12th goal of the season Monday night against Eastern New Mexico to raise his career totals to 20 goals and nine assists for 49 total points.
- Sophomore midfielder Paul Sunderland (Manchester, England / Wright Robinson Secondary) has notched assists in each of his last four matches to rank 10th in NCAA Division II with 10 assists.
- Junior midfielder Ben Clarvis (Newton Abbot, England / Torquay Boys Grammar) is second on the squad with eight assists.
- Junior forward Albert Rodriguez (Dallas, Texas / Sunset HS (Northwood (Texas))) boasts tallies against each of the other two playoff sides in the South Central Region with goals against Colorado Mesa and St. Edward's.
- Junior goalkeeper Nick Petolick (Frisco, Texas / Wakeland HS (Oral Roberts)) needs one shutout to match David Stockton (17 shutouts from 2001-04) for second-place on MSU all-time list. Raul Herrera tops the list with 21 (2005, 09-10).
- Midwestern State ranks 18th in NCAA Division II in total goals (44.0) and is 13th in scoring offense with 2.44 goals per game.
 
THE DOUG ELDER ERA
- Doug Elder is in his 15th season at the helm of Midwestern State.
- Elder remains NCAA Division II winningest active coach in terms of percentage at 219-50-28 (.785).
- Elder is a six-time NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year (2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011).
- Elder's teams have advanced to the NCAA Division II postseason 10 times while making five national quarterfinal appearances twice advancing to the Final Four.
- Elder needs three wins to overtake Howard Patterson (221-85-20 from 1973-89) as the program's all-time leader in coaching wins.
 
UP NEXT
With a win, Midwestern State would advance to face St. Edward's at the site of the highest remaining seed in the West Region next weekend for the right to move on to the national quarterfinal round. Seattle Pacific (Wash.) and Azusa Pacific (Calif.) are the top two seeds in the West.