Midwestern State at UT Tyler
Saturday, Oct. 30 - 2 p.m.
Citizens 1st Bank-Perkins Soccer Complex (Tyler, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 2-0-1
Video | Live Stats 
 
TYLER, Texas -- Midwestern State (9-3-3, 6-1-3 LSC) rides a three-match win streak into Tyler, Texas, to take on UT Tyler (5-8, 3-7 LSC) in another Lone Star Conference match. The conference battle commences on Saturday, Oct. 30 at Citizens 1st Bank-Perkins Soccer Complex. Kick-off is set for 2 p.m.
 

FIVE STORY LINES

1 |  After notching her sixth goal of the season in Wednesday's match against Lubbock Christian, Cassidy Savoy continues her offensive threat. The sophomore registers a Lone Star Conference 11th best six goals and 13th highest three assists. Her averages for .429 goals per game sits 12th in the LSC while her .214 helpers per match earns 14th. Savoy tallied the game-winners against Northwestern Oklahoma State (9/02) and Lubbock Christian (10/27). She also completed 29 shots with 14 finding the target for a 0.207 shot on goal percent in 14 matches. The forward caught a season-high five attempts versus Eastern New Mexico (9/29) and Oklahoma Christian (10/06) while gaining three shots on goal at UT Permian Basin (10/13). In her career, the Fort Worth, Texas, native clinched 37 attempts with 18 going on frame for a 0.486 percent in 24 games played and 1,1150 minutes.

Jordan Colbert landed five goals for ten points to lead UT Tyler on the season. The sophomore recorded 20 shots with 11 landing on goal in 700 minutes. The midfielder is 3-3 on penalty kicks in 13 starts.

2 |  Randi Heaton and Kelly Cannistra maintain five goals on the season through 15 matches. Cannistra comes in at ten points while Heaton adds an assist to notch 11. Three of Heaton's five tallies clinched the game for Midwestern State, a feat tied for second in the Lone Star Conference. Most recently, the midfielder collected her fifth goal and the game-winner against Texas A&M-Commerce (10/20) while Heaton's other two clinchers came in the team's overtime victories over East Central (9/18) and St. Mary's (10/02). The senior notched 13 shots and faced 11 on frame for an impressive 0.846 shot on goal percent. Cannistra has two game-winning goals to her name this season. The senior punched the winning tally at UT Permian Basin (10/13) and against West Texas A&M (10/23). Overall, Cannistra tallies 16 shots on goal from 24 attempts in 993 minutes. The forward posted starts in all 15 matches this season.

Faith Adje and Brooklyn Robinson each collected two assists each for the Patriots. The freshman Adje adds three goals for eight points while freshman Robinson tacks on a solo notch for four points. Both have appeared in 13 matches with Robinson gaining nine starts and Adje recording six.

3 |  Lexi Beck earns the sharp shooter award for the Mustangs as she continues her lead with 38 shots and 21 shots on goal. Her total attempts lands 12th in the Lone Star Conference while her average of 2.53 per game sits 14th. The freshman's shots on frame and her 1.40 average both earn seventh in the LSC. The midfielder found a season-high seven shots at East Central (9/18) and four shots on goal at Northwestern Oklahoma State (9/02). Beck tallied her first goal at Northwestern Oklahoma State (9/02) and added another against Eastern New Mexico (9/29). She collected an assist against the Greyhounds and versus Texas A&M International (10/09). The Fort Worth, Texas native started all 15 matches for MSU for 1,289 minutes.

Adje also leads UTT with 27 attempts at goal. The forward clinched 11 shots on frame for a 0.407 shot on goal percent in 631 minutes.

4 |  Lauren Freeman clinched her second shutout in the Mustangs' 1-0 victory over LCU (10/27) with the other came at Texas A&M-Commerce (10/20). The junior transfer from Eastern Oklahoma State allowed just three goals in 366 minutes on the season. Against 41 shots, Freeman notched 16 saves for a 0.842 save percent. The goalkeeper made five stops in each match against No. 5 DBU (10/16) and West Texas in which her she claimed the only non-shutouts. The Cleburne, Texas native is 3-0 on the season with a 0.74 goals against average.

Camri Cecil has nine starts in 11 appearances for UT Tyler. The goalkeeper registered 40 saves against 128 shots for a 0.727 save percent. The junior allowed 15 goals with a 1.53 average. Cecil is 3-5 on the year with three shutouts.

5 |  Midwestern State is ranked seventh in the initial South Central Region Rankings released Wednesday evening by the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship Committee.The release is the first of three rankings followed by the release of the tournament via a selection show on NCAA.com set for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16. The top six teams from the South Central Region advance to the postseason beginning with the opening two rounds from Nov. 18-21 played at the site of the top two seeds. The full rankings are listed below.
 

Rank	School	D2 Record	In-Region Record
1	Dallas Baptist	13-2-0	11-2-0
2	Colorado Mesa	11-2-0	11-1-0
3	Colorado School of Mines	11-2-3	10-1-3
4	UC Colorado Springs	12-3-0	10-3-0
5	Texas Woman's	11-2-2	10-2-2
6	Westminster (Utah)	7-2-4	7-2-4
7	Midwestern State	8-3-3	8-3-3
8	West Texas A&M	9-5-0	9-5-0

HEAD COACH RYAN SPENCE begins his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater. In the 2020 season, he led the Mustangs to the quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Tournament. As a player, Spence helped the Mustangs dominate in his four years on the field. He earned All-American from 2008-11 and helped the team reach the Final Four in 2010. His center back prowess assisted in gaining 35 shutouts in his tenure. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, he gained his masters from MSU in 2014-15. From there, Spence moved on as assistant coach at Texas A&M International in 2016 and head coach at Eastern New Mexico in 2017 before coming back to Midwestern State in 2018.
 

SERIES WITH THE PATRIOTS

The Saturday match is only the fourth meeting between Midwestern State and UT Tyler. In the first meeting in 2019, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Mustangs found two wins against the Patriots in the 2020 season. The first was a regular season match where Valentina Carvajal's tally helped the team to a 1-0 victory. Just under a month later, Randi Heaton and Kelly Cannistra's goals lifted MSU to a 2-1 defeat in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament. This claimed Midwestern State's first postseason win since the team won the title in 2016. The Mustangs are 1-0 against UTT when playing on the road and hold a 1-0-1 record in Lone Star Conference play.