WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State is the No. 2 seed in Super Region 4 and has reached the third round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship for the second straight year. The Mustangs host sixth-seeded Fort Lewis at Stang Park on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Midwestern State eliminated Cal Poly Pomona with a 3-0 victory in the second round of the tournament after receiving a first-round bye.

Gabriel Gacovicaj scored two goals, and Mere Escobar added a goal and an assist for the Mustangs, who improved their season record to 15-2-3 and extended their winning streak to six matches.

Escobar, who earned D2CCA South Central Region Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, is the fifth-leading goal scorer among NCAA Division II players with 16 goals scored for the Mustangs. Escobar also has 10 assists for 40 total points, which is also fifth most in the nation.

Escobar scored his 16th goal of the season and the 60th of his career against Cal Poly Pomona. Escobar owns the MSU school record for career goals. The senior surpassed the career output of Alvin Alexander from 1975-78 and Kris Henderson from 1987-90. The native of Austin, Texas, has scored two or more goals in a game 13 times in his career and for five times this season.

During his career, the Mustangs are an astounding 41-0-2 when Escobar scores.

Escobar was joined on the All-South Central Region team by a pair of second-team performers in senior defenders Tristian Adams and Juan Galindo.

Adams earned the second all-region honors of his career after gaining first-team honors from the United Soccer Coaches in 2022. He earned All-LSC first-team honors twice during his career.

The Mustangs posted an 9-0-2 mark in his 11 matches this season and he scored goals in both wins over the LSC champion St. Mary's Rattlers.

Galindo makes an appearance on the D2CCA All-South Central Region squad for the second consecutive season. He was a first-team honoree last season on the way to gaining first-team All-America accolades.

The 2023 Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year is a three-time, all-conference performer earning first-team mention following each of the last two seasons.

Samuele Muroni is the second-leading goal scorer for the Stang Gang with seven goals and among players with at least 20 shots, Muroni has the highest shots-on-goal percentage for MSU at .571 — 16 of his 28 shots have been on frame this season.

Max Gonzales has scored six times this season, including twice against Texas A&M International on Oct. 5. Eduardo Cerna scored two goals and added an assist in the 3-1 win over St. Edward's in the conference tournament and has scored four goals this season. Cerna has nine points for the Mustangs.

Goalkeeper Daniel Robles improved his record to 10-1-3 in 16 appearances. The 6-2 junior from Tyler, Texas, has allowed 16 goals and made 34 saves with a .680 save percentage. His goals-against average is 1.09. Robles has four shutouts this season.

Head coach Michael Meachum reached a milestone with a 3-1 victory over St. Mary's in the Mustangs' last regular season match. In his seventh season at the helm, Meachum has a record of 103-21-12 and a winning percentage of .801.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Fort Lewis, 10-6-3, including a 2-1 victory in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship at Stang Park last year.

Jecsi Orrellana-Espinal assisted Jack Larkin for the first goal in the 11th minute, and Max Gonzales gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead in the 63rd minute, assisted by Liam Pritchard.

Anton Hjalmarsson scored in the 67th minute for the Skyhawks, but Midwestern State held to advance in the tournament last year.

There were 13 yellow cards shown during the match last year. Five different Mustangs were booked. Aymaro Vargas picked up his second yellow card in the 88th minute for Fort Lewis and was ejected.

Fort Lewis is 2-5-2 all-time when visiting Midwestern State and has lost its last three visits to Stang Park. The Skyhawks last victory at Midwestern State was a 3-1 triumph in September of 2013.

Fort Lewis enters the third-round match with a 13-3-6 overall record after defeating third-seeded UC Colorado Springs, 4-2, at Mountain Lion Stadium.

Hjalmarsson scored twice for the Skyhawks, and the sophomore has eight goals and two assists through 10 matches. Hjalmarsson has scored five goals over his last three matches.

Goalkeeper Lucas Martin matched his career-high with eight saves for the third time in his career.

Martin is 10-2-6 with nine shutouts this season and boasts a 0.88 goals-against average. The sophomore from Middlesbrough, England, has 73 saves with a save percentage of .820.

Gabriel Legendre, David Citron and Jakob Larson of Fort Lewis were all selected to the All-South Central Region team by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association.

Legendre, a fifth-year senior forward, is five-time All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and two-time First-Team All-RMAC honoree, and he leads Fort Lewis in scoring this season with nine goals and three assists for 21 total points.

Citron, a junior midfielder, has scored six goals and also has 10 assists for the Skyhawks. He leads the team with 22 total points.

Larson, a senior defender, has helped the Skyhawks defense to a region-leading 10 shutouts this season which is tied for the seventh-most in Division II.


David Oberholtzer is in his ninth season as the head coach at Fort Lewis and owns a career record of 81-56-25 (.577). The native of Tempe, Arizona, has led the Skyhawks to a career-high 13 wins this season after finishing with a 12-5-4 record last season.

The winner of the third-round faces either top-seeded Colorado State Pueblo or fifth-seeded Cal State LA in the quarterfinals on Dec. 7.