Match 14 – No. 2 Midwestern State (12-0-1) at West Texas A&M (9-5-0)
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015 | 7 p.m.
The Pitch | Canyon, Texas
Live Stats: GoBuffsGo.com
Live Video: GoBuffsGo.com
 
FOR STARTERS
Midwestern State will make its final regular season road trip Thursday when the Mustangs travel to Canyon to face rival West Texas A&M in the Highway 287 Challenge at 7 p.m.
 
The Mustangs recently recorded their fifth shutout of the season Monday with a 3-0 victory over Rogers State at MSU Soccer Field. Senior forward Albert Rodriguez extended his team-best scoring total to 14 goals on the season with two against the Hillcats while junior forward Cody Schultz added his third score on the year in the 3-0 win.
 
HIGHWAY 287 CHALLENGE
– The Highway 287 Challenge is a competitive series between the Midwestern State and West Texas A&M athletic programs
– The competition is in its third season with WT claiming the first two challenge cups by a one-point margin each season
– The Challenge tracks head-to-head matchups and conference championship results in 10 sports with each school accumulating points toward the overall series championship
– Midwestern State currently leads the 2015-16 challenge, 5.5-2.5
 
MUSTANGS CLIMB TO NO. 2 IN NATIONAL POLL
– Midwestern State made its fourth appearance at No. 2 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division II Top 25 Poll this week, moving up one spot following another undefeated weekend
– The Mustangs have appeared in the top five in the national rankings since the second week of the season when they climbed from ninth to fifth
– MSU earned its first No. 1 ranking since 2008 in the week five poll on Oct. 6  
SCOUTING THE BUFFS
– West Texas A&M comes in with a 9-5-0 record, winners of six of the last seven including a 2-0 victory over then-No. 13 St. Edward's (Texas)
– Junior forward Christian Suthers and senior midfielder Conrod Goulbourne pace the WT offense with five goals apiece, helping the Buffs rank 38th nationally with 2.14 goals per game
– Junior goalkeeper Patrick Satorie has started all contests in goal for WT this season, holding a 1.40 goals against average and .677 save percentage with five shutouts
– Head coach Butch Lauffer is in his 25th season with a 291-132-32 record
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State is 29-17-3 against West Texas A&M dating back to 1975
– The Mustangs enter Thursday's match winners of the last five between the two teams
– The last six matches have been one-point contests with the Mustangs pulling out a 3-2 double overtime win in Wichita Falls and a 2-1 victory in Canyon last season

MSU TOPS SOUTH CENTRAL REGION POLL
– In the first regional rankings released by the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Committee, Midwestern State came out in front in the South Central Region rankings
– The South Central Region will be represented by four teams in this year's NCAA Tournament with the first round set to begin Nov. 14-15 at select campus sites
– Midwestern State was followed by Colorado Mines, St. Edward's, Colorado Mesa, Colorado-Colorado Springs and Metro State (Colo.) in the first set of rankings
 
MUSTANGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
– Midwestern State has been dominant on both sides of the ball this season, outscoring the opposition 48-10 and leading 285-107 in total shots and 124-43 in shots on goal
– Midwestern State is holding opponents to 0.77 goals per game while limiting teams to just 8.2 shots
– In the latest NCAA statistical rankings, the Mustangs rank in the top 20 in 10 of 13 categories    
MUSTANGS MAKE APPEARANCE AT NO. 1
– For just the fifth time in program history, the Midwestern State made an appearance at No. 1 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division II Top 25 Poll on Oct. 6
– The Mustangs last appeared at the top of the national poll near the end of the 2008 season with three-straight weeks (Oct. 21-Nov. 4) at No. 1
– Midwestern State first took over the No. 1 spot back on Sept. 24, 1984 after opening the season 5-0-0 following a 9-2 win over TCU
 
MSU RALLIES FOR SECOND TOP-10 WIN
– The Mustangs took down their second top-10 opponent of the season on Oct. 8 in Wichita Falls, earning a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over No. 6 St. Edward's
– Midwestern State also recorded a 4-1 win over then-No. 4 Colorado Mesa in the second match of the season on Sept. 6 at MSU Soccer Field
– Facing the nation's top defense, the Mustangs struck early with a goal from senior midfielder Juan Farres in the 16th minute, but the Hilltoppers would eventually go on top with two second half goals for a 2-1 advantage with just over 20 minutes to play
– Midwestern State kept attacking the St. Edward's defense, recording the equalizer in the 78th minute with a score from junior midfielder Gabriel Cavalcante
– With 3:30 remaining in regulation, junior midfielder Flavio Guzman put the Mustangs ahead with a strike from inside the box off a pass from senior forward Albert Rodriguez to hand the Hilltoppers their first defeat of the season
 
BACK-TO-BACK HAT TRICKS
– Senior forward Albert Rodriguez recorded Midwestern State's first hat trick of the 2015 season in a 7-0 win over Dallas Baptist on Oct. 17, netting the first, second and fifth goals for MSU in the match
– In the next match against Texas A&M International on Oct. 22, junior midfielder Flavio Guzman tallied his first hat trick in a 4-1 win over the Dustdevils
– The duo became the 13th and 14th Mustangs to record a hat trick dating back to 2000
– In that span, Midwestern State has recorded hat tricks in back-to-back matches just once when Jimmy Krueger netted a hat trick in the 2005 season opener against St. Edward's on Aug. 26 before Keegan Hudson recorded the second one against Colorado State-Pueblo on Sept. 2
– Midwestern State has also had two players post hat tricks in the same match when Craig Sutherland and Bryan Sajjadi each tallied one against Missouri Southern on Oct. 31, 2008
 
ELDER BECOMES ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH IN PROGRAM HISTORY
– Following the win over Southern Nazarene on Sept. 10, Midwestern State head coach Doug Elder became the all-time winningest coach in program history with his 222nd win
– Elder passed his former coach Howard Patterson, who finished with a 221-85-20 record (.709) in 17 seasons (1973-89) at Midwestern
– Now in his 16th season at MSU, Elder holds a career record of 231-51-29 (.789)
– Elder's career winning percentage of .789 currently ranks first among active NCAA Division II coaches
 
WINNING SEASONS
– Entering 2015, the Mustangs have posted 17-straight winning seasons and an impressive 40 winning seasons in the program's 43 years
– The Mustangs hold an all-time record of 616-205-63 (.732)
– Current head coach Doug Elder has seen a winning season in each of his 15 campaigns at Midwestern
 
LOOKING AHEAD
– Midwestern State begins a three-match homestand to close out the regular season Monday when the Mustangs host UT-Permian Basin at 7 p.m. at MSU Soccer Field