Match 15 – No. 2 Midwestern State (13-0-1) vs. UT-Permian Basin (4-12)
Monday, Nov. 2 | 7 p.m.
MSU Soccer Field | Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com
Live Video: MSUMustangs.tv
 
FOR STARTERS
After a 2-0 road win over rival West Texas A&M last week, Midwestern State returns to MSU Soccer Field for a 7 p.m. Monday kickoff against UT-Permian Basin.
 
Second half goals by senior midfielder Juan Farres and senior forward Albert Rodriguez lifted the Mustangs to a 2-0 victory Thursday over West Texas A&M at The Pitch in Canyon. It was the sixth shutout of the season for Midwestern as the Mustangs held the Buffs to just two shots on goal. Farres netted the eventual game winner for the Mustangs in the 53rd minute before Rodriguez added to his team-best scoring total with his 15th goal of the season just eight minutes later.
 
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 FALCONS
– UT-Permian Basin is 4-12-0 on the season and 1-7-0 in the Heartland Conference
– The Falcons are led by senior forward Nathan Cotterell, who has a team-best eight goals and three assists this season
– Senior goalkeeper Justin Bryant ranks 21st in the country with 80 saves and 27th with 5.33 per game
– Bryant carries a 1.80 goals against average and a .746 save percentage
– Head coach Dennis Peterson is in his 16th season with the Falcons
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Midwestern State is 4-0-0 against UT-Permian Basin in the all-time series that began in 2007
– The Mustangs have outscored the Falcons 21-0 in the series
– MSU earned a 4-0 victory last season in Odessa
 
MUSTANGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
– Midwestern State has been dominant on both sides of the ball this season, outscoring the opposition 50-10 and leading 298-118 in total shots and 135-45 in shots on goal
– Midwestern State is holding opponents to 0.71 goals per game while limiting teams to just 8.4 shots per game
– In the latest NCAA statistical rankings, the Mustangs rank in the top 20 in nine of 13 categories
– Individually, senior forward Albert Rodriguez ranks in the top 10 in seven offensive categories – 5th in goals per game (1.07), points per game (2.5) and shots per game (4.64), 6th in shots on goal per game (2.36), 8th in total points (35), 9th in game-winning goals (5) and 10th in total goals (15)   – 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 232-51-29 (.790)
– Elder's career winning percentage of .790 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 617-205-63 (.733)
– Current head coach Doug Elder has seen a winning season in each of his 15 campaigns at Midwestern
 
LOOKING AHEAD
– Midwestern State closes out the regular season next weekend when the Mustangs play host to West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico