CANYON, Texas -- Sixth-seeded Midwestern State faces third-seeded West Texas A&M in the Lone Star Conference 2022 Men's Soccer Championship. The quarterfinal match on Tuesday will be played at The Pitch in Canyon, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The winner of the quarterfinal match travels to San Antonio to meet second-seeded Dallas Baptist in the semifinals at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
 

(6) MIDWESTERN STATE (10-5-2, 4-5-0) vs. (3) WEST TEXAS A&M (6-3-8, 4-1-4)

Tuesday | 7 p.m.

The Pitch | Canyon

Series History | Midwestern State leads, 35-23-5

LAST MEETING | West Texas A&M defeated Midwestern State in the regular season finale at Stang Park on Saturday afternoon, 1-0. Rotom Weiss scored in the 11th minute for the Buffaloes, who are unbeaten in the last four meetings. Ben Siri kept possession on the left side in the attacking third despite tight marking and looped a ball over the left shoulder of Anthony Perea as he entered the box. Perea was able to center the ball for Kenny Brown just outside the 6-yard box. Brown deflected the ball to Weiss, whose right-footed blast went past a diving MSU goalkeeper, Adam Braman, and inside the left post for an early goal. The sophomore Braman, making his 13th start of the season, had seven saves in the game for the Mustangs but suffered the loss as his record fell to 7-5-1. Weiss scored his first goal of the season for the Buffaloes, and West Texas A&M was able to withstand the subsequent pressure from Midwestern State. The Mustangs outshot WT, 15-11, but only managed to get four shots on goal, and nothing went past goalkeeper Asaf Kristal, who recorded his fifth shutout in 10 starts this season, improving to 4-1-5 for the Buffaloes.

TRACKING THE MUSTANGS | Midwestern State is 3-3-2 in away matches this season…Mustangs are winless in the last five meetings with the Buffaloes, who have four one-goal victories and a draw in that span…MSU has 118 goals all-time against WT…. MSU is 14-12-3 all-time when visiting WT, including a 1-1 draw in a non-conference match earlier this season…Midwestern State head coach Michael Meachum is 65-17-7 in five seasons… Midwestern State is fourth in the conference with 1.59 goals per game…Mustangs are fourth in the conference with 27 goals… MSU has outscored its opponents, 27-14…+13 is the third-best goal differential in the LSC…Mere Escobar leads the Mustangs and is second in the LSC with eight goals this season…MSU is second in the league with 24 total assists…Rory Doyle has six assists, which is second in the LSC and 38th in the nation…Midwestern State is third in the LSC with 4.59 points per game… Escobar has three game-winning goals, which is the second-best total in the LSC and 29th in the nation…96 of 212 (.453) shots have been on goal, making MSU third in the conference in shot accuracy…21 of 42 (.500) shots have been on goal for Escobar, who is second in the LSC in shot accuracy…Escobar is third in the conference with 21 total points, and Doyle is 10th in the LSC with 12 total points…Mustangs average 5.12 corner kicks per game, which is fourth most in the LSC…MSU is third in the conference with a team goals against average of 0.824, which is 23rd in the nation… Goalkeeper Adam Braman is third in the league with a 0.841 goals against average, which is 29th best in the nation… Braman is seventh in the LSC with a .739 save percentage…

SCOUTING WEST TEXAS A&M | Buffaloes are 1-1-4 at home this season…WT is fifth in the conference with a +7 goal differential, 20-13…Buffaloes are even in goal differential at home, 5-5…Butch Lauffer is 369-164-48 (.676) in 32 seasons as the West Texas head coach…West Texas A&M leads the conference with 14.71 shot per game and 6.12 shots on goal per game…Kenny Brown leads the LSC with 3.18 shots per game, and Giancarlo Saldana is third in the league with 2.93 shots per game…Brown leads the conference in shot accuracy with 30 of 54 shots on goal (.556)…Brown is second in the conference with eight goals…Saldana is sixth in the LSC with five assists…Brown is fourth in the league with 19 total points and 1.12 points per game…WT is eighth in the conference with 20 goals, 16 assists, and 56 points…WT is ninth in the LSC with 1.18 goals per game…WT is second in the conference and 18th in the nation with a team GAA of 0.765…Goalkeeper Asaf Kristal has made 34 saves, which is seventh in the conference, and Alfonso Aragon is 11th in the LSC with 18 saves….Kristal is second in the league and ninth in the nation with a 0.587 GAA…Kristal is second in the LSC and seventh in the nation with an .850 save percentage…Kristal is sixth in the conference with 3.09 saves per game…WT is 10th in the conference with 12.88 fouls per game and fifth in the league with 43 yellow cards…

UP NEXT | The semifinals of the Lone Star Conference Postseason will begin Friday at Sigma Beta Chi Field in San Antonio. The winner of the MSU/WT quarterfinal faces second-seeded Dallas Baptist in the semifinals. No. 1 seed St. Mary's faces the Oklahoma Christian/Lubbock Christian winner in the second semifinal match on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The championship match kicks off a 1 p.m. Sunday in San Antonio.