Men's Soccer 11/12/2016 11:37:00 PM Blake Barington / MSU Athletic Communications

Mustangs play host to Colorado Mesa Sunday in NCAA Second Round

#11 Midwestern State vs. #15 Colorado Mesa
NCAA II Second Round
Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016 | 1 p.m.
MSU Soccer Field | Wichita Falls, Texas
Records: No. 2 seed Midwestern State (16-3-1); No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa (14-1-5)
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com

TICKETS
General Admission - $6
Students, Seniors (65+) & Active Military (with ID) - $4
*Free tickets to the first 250 students

THE RUNDOWN
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Midwestern State begins its run at a national title Sunday as the 11th-ranked Mustangs open up NCAA Tournament play against No. 15 Colorado Mesa for the third-straight season in a NCAA Second Round matchup at MSU Soccer Field. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

The Mustangs earned the No. 2 seed in the South Central Region following a 16-3-1 record. Midwestern claimed the Heartland Conference regular season title and finished runners-up to No. 7 St. Edward's in the conference championship match to earn its fourth-straight postseason bid and 12th in program history.

The winner between the Mustangs and the Mavericks will move on to face top-seeded St. Edward's in the regional final next weekend at the site of the highest remaining seed in the West Region. The Hilltoppers were 1-0 winners against No. 4 seed Regis (Colo.) in their regional semifinal Saturday in Austin.

MUSTANGS APPEAR 11TH IN FINAL REGULAR SEASON RANKINGS
- Midwestern State closed out the NSCAA regular season rankings at No. 11, making its third-straight appearance inside the top 15 in the nation
- Midwestern State earned its highest ranking of the season at No. 7 in the preseason poll and ranked inside the top 10 at No. 8 on Nov. 1 and No. 9 on Sept. 6

Mustangs in the Polls
Poll	Ranking
Preseason	7
Week 1 (Sept. 6)	9
Week 2 (Sept. 13)	17
Week 3 (Sept. 20)	23
Week 4 (Sept. 27)	25
Week 5 (Oct. 4)	18
Week 6 (Oct. 11)	15
Week 7 (Oct. 18)	19
Week 8 (Oct. 25)	11
Week 9 (Nov. 1)	8
Week 10 (Nov. 8)	11

SIX MUSTANGS NAMED ALL-HEARTLAND; ELDER TABBED COACH OF THE YEAR
- Midwestern State matched a league-high six All-Heartland Conference selections while picking up three individual honors with senior midfielder Gabriel Cavalcante being named the Heartland Conference Player of the Year, senior forward Christian Okeke earning Heartland Offensive Player of the Year accolades and Doug Elder being tabbed the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year
- Joining Cavalcante and Okeke on the All-Heartland Conference First Team was senior midfielder Flavio Guzman and junior defender Jordan Speed
- Senior defender Antonio Hernandez and junior midfielder Pierre Bocquet rounded out the MSU all-conference selections with second team honors
- Elder collected his eighth conference coach of the year honor since taking over the MSU men's soccer program in 2000
- Elder was named coach of the year in the Southwest Soccer Conference from 2005-08 and in the Lone Star Conference in 2002 and 2010-11

A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
- Midwestern State ranks in the top 20 nationally in 10 statistical categories, averaging 2.4 goals per game (19th) while carrying a 0.54 goals against average (5th) this season
- The Mustangs have recorded 11 clean sheets on the season to tie for the fifth most in the country
- Senior Gabriel Cavalcante leads the Mustangs with 21 points this season with seven goals and a team-best seven assists
- Cavalcante ranks 17th nationally with five game-winning goals on the year
- Senior Christian Okeke ranks second for the Mustangs in scoring this season with 18 points, matching Cavalcante with seven goals while adding four assists
- Senior Noah Fazekas has posted 10 shutouts on the year to rank sixth in the country with a 0.556 goals against average and 13th with a .825 save percentage

NCAA Statistical Rankings
Ranking	Category	Total
19	Scoring Offense	2.4
11	Total Goals	48
5	Team Goals Against Average	0.54
7	Shutout Percentage	0.55
6	Assists Per Game	2.6
194	Saves Per Game	2.75
13	Points Per Game	7.4
9	Save Percentage	.833
65	Fouls Per Game	11.6
5	Total Assists	52
8	Total Points	148
3	Shots Per Game	20.1
21	Shots On Goal Per Game	7.8

NO GOAL ZONE
- Midwestern State's 11 shutouts this season are the most for the program since the Mustangs also totaled 11 clean sheets in 2011
- The Mustangs defense has held opponents to three or fewer shots on goal in 14 of their 20 games this season

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
- Colorado Mesa comes in with a 14-1-5 record after claiming the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles
- The Mavericks are currently on a 16-game unbeaten streak heading into Sunday's meeting with Midwestern State
- Senior forward Roy Abergil ranks second in NCAA Division II with 23 goals while ranking in the top 25 nationally in five other categories
- Abergil has accounted for more than 40 percent of CMU's scoring with 47 of CMU's 112 points
- Sophomore midfielder Moshe Perez leads the Mavericks with nine assists while ranking second with 15 points
- Sophomore goalkeeper Briley Guarneri leads Division II in minutes played with 1917:24 and ranks ninth in goals against average (.610) and 18th in save percentage (.817)
- The Mavericks have recorded 11 shutouts on the season to tie for fifth in the country

INSIDE THE SERIES
- Midwestern State carries a 3-1 record against Colorado Mesa in the all-time series while both teams are 1-1 against the other in postseason play
- The Mustangs handed the Mavericks a 4-2 defeat in the second round of the tournament last season in Wichita Falls while CMU came out on top with a 1-0 victory in a second round matchup in Grand Junction, Colo., in 2014
- Midwestern State also picked up regular season wins in 2014 and 2015

ELDER REACHES 250 CAREER WINS
- Head coach Doug Elder recorded his 250th career win at the helm of the MSU men's soccer program in the win over Newman on Oct. 27 at MSU Soccer Field
- The five-time region coach of the year carries a career mark of 252-55-30 and sits as the winningest NCAA Division II men's soccer coach with at least 10 seasons of coaching with a .792 winning percentage
- Elder became MSU's all-time winningest men's soccer coach last season in an 8-1 win over Southern Nazarene (Okla.), surpassing his former coach Howard Patterson with his 222nd career win

WELCOME TO OUR HOUSE
- Dating back to the 1979 season, Midwestern State was won nearly 85 percent of its games at MSU Soccer Field with a record of 332-51-27
- MSU posted a program-best 15 home wins in 1995 while hosting the NAIA sectional and regional playoffs
- From Nov. 17, 2007 to Sept. 9, 2012, the Mustangs recorded a school record 44-match unbeaten streak at MSU Soccer Field

WINNING SEASONS
- Midwestern State extended its winning season streak to 19 in 2016, the longest active streak in NCAA Division II and tied for eighth in the history of Division II men's soccer
- The Mustangs have posted an impressive 42 winning seasons in the program's 45 years of existence and just one losing season since the 1973 season (1997)
- MSU carries an all-time record of 627-209-64 (.735)
- Doug Elder has led Midwestern to double-digit wins in each of his 17 seasons with eight 15-plus win campaigns

– MSUMustangs.com –

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