WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Top-seeded Midwestern State takes on Fort Lewis in the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament on Sunday afternoon. The two schools will meet at Stang Park, where the Skyhawks eliminated UC Colorado Springs on Friday afternoon with a 3-2 first-round victory. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Midwestern State is making its 18th overall and 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It is the 35th appearance in a national postseason tournament, including 17 NAIA Tournaments from 1977 -1996.

Midwestern State is 9-6-3 all-time against Fort Lewis and has won the last three meetings. The last time the schools met in the postseason, the Mustangs scored a 5-0 victory as Kyle Kmiec and Nick Auditore each scored twice, and Shawn Carr made four saves at Stang Park in 2008.

In 2006, Fort Lewis advanced in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional by defeating MSU on penalties. Following a 1-1 draw, the Skyhawks won the penalty kick shootout in Durango, Colorado, 3-1.

Midwestern State is 4-2-2 when hosting Fort Lewis. The Mustangs won the last encounter at Stang Park in 2017. A crowd of 1,085 watched the season opener as MSU earned a 3-0 victory with goals from Scott Doney, Carlos Flores and Koby Sapon-Amoah. Taylor Lampe earned the win in his collegiate debut as a goalkeeper.

The Mustangs are unbeaten this season with a 19-0-1 record and have outscored opponents this season, 60-11. MSU has a 17-match winning streak since playing a 2-2 draw against Rogers State in the home opener. 

The +49 goal differential is the third best in the country among Division II schools. Charleston (WV) is the best with a +66.

Midwestern State has outscored visitors this season, 26-2, en route to a 9-0-1 record at home. The Mustangs have won nine consecutive home matches, outscoring the competition 24-0 in those matches.

Lone Star Conference Player of the Year, Mere Escobar, leads MSU with 17 goals and 13 assists. Escobar is second in the nation with 46 total points and fourth in total goals. He is sixth in total assists. Escobar has at least one point in 19 of 20 matches this season. He has at least two points in each of his last four matches and seven of his last eight. The junior from Austin, Texas, has at least two points in 16 matches this season, and he has four points in five matches this season.

Maycol Reyes is second on the team with nine goals and five assists for 23 points. Reyes has three multi-goal matches since Oct. 18, when he had two goals and two assists at Lubbock Christian in a 5-1 victory. Reyes had a hat trick as the Mustangs clinched the LSC regular season title with 4-0 win over St. Edward's. Reyes struck for two goals last week in the championship game of the LSC Tournament as MSU defeated Dallas Baptist, 5-0.

Liam Pritchard has at least one point in six of his last eight matches and has six goals with five assists this season. Pritchard has a goal and an assist in three matches this season.

Samuele Muroni has scored six goals this season and has scored twice in the last three matches. Muroni had a hat trick in a 6-3 win at Texas A&M International on Oct. 14. He scored his first goal of the season three days earlier in a 2-0 win over UT Tyler at Stang Park.

Jack Larkin has four goals and four assists this season. The team captain has an assist in two of the last three matches.

Gabriel Gacovicaj, Max Gonzales, Jecsi Orellana-Espinal and Dereck Espinal have each scored three goals this season. Gacovicaj has three assists, while Gonzales and Orellana-Espinal each have two assists.

LSC Defensive Player of the Year, Juan Galindo, has two goals and an assist this season. Josh Milla, Anthony Perea and Daniel Yu all have a goal and three assists for the Mustangs.

Tomas Duenes, Thomas Kirkham and Gabriel Legendre scored goals as Fort Lewis rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the 55th minute to defeat UC Colorado Springs, 3-2, on Friday. Lucas Martin saved a Kolby Raineri PK in the opening two minutes of the second half after Raineri and the Mountain Lions had broken through with a goal off a free kick in the 41st minute. Alex Andersson scored in the 51st minute to give the Mountain Lions a 2-0 lead that would vanish over the next 35 minutes.

Anton Hjalmarsson assisted on all three goals for the Skyhawks, who captured their first NCAA Tournament win since 2011 and improved to 12-4-4 for the season.

Head coach David Oberholtzer captured his first NCAA win as a head coach. Oberholtzer is 68-52-19 in eight seasons as a head coach at Fort Lewis.

Michael Meachum is 87-18-9 since taking over the reins at MSU in 2018, but the Mustangs have not made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament under Meachum's guidance. Last year, Midwestern State lost to St. Mary's in the second round, 1-0, in San Antonio.

Two years ago at Stang Park, Cal Poly Pomona defeated Midwestern State in the second round, 1-0.

In 2019, MSU was shut out in the second round by Cal State LA in Los Angeles, 3-0. In Meachum's first season, Colorado Mesa advanced to the third round with a 5-4 victory in a PK shootout, following a scoreless draw through 110 minutes.

The winner of Sunday's match plays Colorado State-Pueblo in a third-round match.
 

--MSUMustangs.com--