Midwestern State (17-0-2) vs. St. Edward's (15-3-1)
Heartland Conference Postseason Tournament Championship
Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017 | 1 p.m.
Stang Park | Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com |
Watch: Mustangs Digital Network
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- Midwestern State aims to avenge a 2-0 loss to St. Edward's in last seasons' Heartland Conference Postseason Tournament final Sunday at Stang Park.
- The Mustangs matched the third longest unbeaten streak in program history by improving to 16-0-3 with a 2-1 win over Texas A&M International Friday night at Stang Park.
- Midwestern has won six consecutive matches since playing Rogers State to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 12th.
- MSU last claimed a conference postseason tournament title in 2006 as a member of the Southwest Soccer Conference. The SSC did not host a postseason tournament in 2007 and 2008 and the Lone Star Conference didn't have one from 2009-12. MSU competed as an independent from 2013-15 before advancing to the Heartland Conference finals last season.
- Midwestern has claimed three conference postseason tournament championships as a member of NCAA Division II. MSU claimed LSC titles in 1999 and 2001 and an SSC championship in 2006.
- The Mustangs finished off consecutive Heartland Conference regular season championships with a 12-0-2 league mark in 2017. In two seasons in the Heartland, MSU boasts a 25-1-2 record (.929) but fell in the postseason tournament title game to St. Edward's on its home turf in 2016
- Midwestern are coming off its fourth unbeaten regular season going 16-0-2 this fall. The Mustangs also posted unbeaten regular season ledgers in 2002 (13-0-4), 2010 (16-0-2) and 2015 (16-0-1) – all coming under current head coach Doug Elder.
- MSU's 19-match unbeaten streak is tied for the third longest in program history. The record streak of 26 matches without a loss was split between the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Midwestern won the final eight games of 2001 before starting the 2002 campaign with a 14-0-4 mark. The Mustangs closed the 2006 season going 14-0-2 over the last 16 then claimed victory in the first three the following year to stretch the streak to 19 for the second longest unbeaten run in program history. MSU bettered the longest single season streak originally set in 2015 when the Mustangs started 17-0-1.
- Elder claimed his second straight Heartland Conference Coach of the Year honor and rates as one of the winningest coaches in any venue with a career mark of 271-56-32 (.799). The MSU alum and former All-America player piloted 20th-straight winning season and No. 3 national ranking. It's his ninth conference coach of the year award also winning accolades from the Southwest Soccer Conference (2005-08) and Lone Star Conference (2002, 2010-11).
- Senior midfielder Pierre Bocquet (8 goals, 5 assists) became the second consecutive Midwestern State Mustang to earn Heartland Conference Player of the Year honors following Gabriel Cavalcante.
- Carlos Flores (4 goals, 7 assists) garnered Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year accolades joining Bocquet, senior forward Scott Doney (12 goals, 2 assists) and junior defender Patrick Fitzgerald.
- Defenders Jordan Speed and Alex Mullet joined senior goalkeeper Richard Goss on the second team.
- Midwestern State ranks fourth in NCAA Division II in team goals against average (0.431) and is sixth in team shutout percentage (0.611) including 11 clean sheets.
- Goss ranks 10th in NCAA Division II with a 0.557 goals against average and is 19th with a .818 save percentage.
- Redshirt-freshman keeper Taylor Lampe has also been superb allowing three goals in 790 minutes for a 0.34 goals against average with a glistening .889 save percentage in nine starts.
- On the attack, MSU ranks 20th in total goals nationally with 41 and is 33rd in scoring offense scoring 2.28 goals per game.
- Bocquet scored the lone goal off of a header on a corner kick to lift MSU to a 1-0 win over St. Edward's earlier this season at Stang Park. The tally came in the 40th minute.
- The Mustangs are 30-6-5 all-time against St. Edward's including wins in four of the last five since the start of the 2015 season. The Hilltoppers' only victory came in the 2016 Heartland Conference Postseason Tournament final at Stang Park.
- MSU is 16-3-2 against the Hilltoppers in games played at Stang Park, but both sides are 2-2-2 in the last six matches played in Wichita Falls.
- St. Edward's won its fourth consecutive match with a 6-1 shellacking of St. Mary's Friday afternoon at Stang Park. The Hilltoppers have won seven of eight with the setback coming to Midwestern State on Oct. 19th in Wichita Falls.
- SEU placed four players on the All-Heartland first team including junior forward Dylan Armstrong (10 goals, 6 assists), senior midfielder Pablo Covarrubias (7 goals, 4 assists), senior defender Ty Mobley (1 goal, 5 assists) and senior defender Owain Hoskins (4 goals, 4 assists).
