Box Score (PDF)

THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State came away with the 2016 Heartland Conference regular season title Thursday evening at MSU Soccer Field with the 11th-ranked Mustangs recording a dominant 4-0 win over Newman (Kan.) to earn the crown in its inaugural season while capturing the program's 10th conference championship. 
 
Midwestern State (14-2-1, 12-1-0) avenged its lone conference loss to Newman last month in Wichita, Kan., relying on a first half game winner from Gabriel Cavalcante before erupting for a trio of scores in the second period to walk away with its ninth-straight win. The Mustangs also posted their sixth-straight shutout and eighth clean sheet in the last nine outings after holding Newman (9-6-2, 7-4-2) to just one shot on goal.
 
Cavalcante gave the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage in the 37th minute, dribbling around the Jets defense inside the box before firing into the right corner of the net for his seventh goal of the season.
 
The Mustangs held a narrow lead before Ross Fitzpatrick extended the MSU advantage to 2-0 on a header into the left side of the net off a corner kick by Sebastian Venegas in the 74th minute.
 
Just three minutes later, the Maroon and Gold struck again with Jacob Hernandez sending a rocket from the right side of the box in the top left corner of the net for a 3-0 lead.
 
A handball by the Jets inside the box resulted in a penalty kick for the Mustangs in the 81st minute with Patrick Fitzgerald putting MSU in front 4-0 to round out the scoring for the night.

NOTES
*Midwestern State will host the semifinals and finals of the Heartland Conference Tournament, Nov. 4 and 6 at MSU Soccer Field
*The semifinals will take place Friday, Nov. 4 at 5 and 7:30 p.m. while the championship match is slated for Sunday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.
*Five of the six seeds in the tournament have been set with Midwestern State, St. Edward's, West Texas A&M, Newman and Rogers State advancing to the postseason
*The Mustangs claimed their 10th conference title after competing three seasons as an independent, also winning the Lone Star (1999, 2001-02, 2008-10) and Southwest Soccer (2005-07) Conference Championships
*Head coach Doug Elder reached 250 career wins with the Mustangs Thursday night, holding a record of 250-54-30 in 17 seasons
*MSU held a 22-4 advantage in shots and 7-1 edge in shots on goal versus Newman
*Noah Fazekas tallied his ninth clean sheet of the season to tie for the third most in a single season in program history
*Fazekas became the first Mustang to record nine shutouts in a season since Nick Petolick also collected nine in 2013
*MSU's 10 shutouts this season are the most for the program since recording 11 in 2011
*The Mustangs have allowed just one goal (an own goal at Lubbock Christian) in the last 836:14 and have a shutout streak of 549:15

STAT OF THE GAME
1 – Midwestern State held its opponent to just one shot on goal for the fourth time this season

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"I'm proud of the guys for responding in the second half. I told them at halftime we're going to go at them in the second half and we're going to score more goals. We've allowed one goal in the last nine games, that's crazy, our defense has really stepped it up. Tonight was everything – it's Homecoming Week, conference championship and the way our game went up there. We play well at home and we're excited about Saturday." - Head coach Doug Elder

UP NEXT 
Midwestern State hosts Oklahoma Christian for Senior Day in its final regular season contest Saturday at 1 p.m. at MSU Soccer Field.