TURLOCK, Calif. – Midwestern State is making its third consecutive appearance in the third round of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship and facing top-seeded Stanislaus State in Super Region IV on Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. CST.
Midwestern State (15-3-3), the No. 4 seed in the region, defeated Seattle Pacific, 1-0, in a dramatic game at Stang Park last week. Parker Plaxco scored his fifth game-winning goal of the season with 15 seconds remaining in overtime. Liam Pritchard assisted on the goal.
Stanislaus State (17-1-1), ranked No. 3 in the nation, eliminated Hawaii Hilo 2-0 at Warrior Stadium as Emmanuel Duran and Sebastian Carbajal scored goals, and Angel Ruiz-Hernandez made three saves in the victory.
Stanislaus State set a school record for wins in a season and has a four-game winning streak. The Warriors have outscored opponents this season, 44-9, and have posted an 8-0-1 record at home.
No. 8-ranked Midwestern State had six players selected for the D2CCA South Central Men's Soccer All-Region Teams, the most of any school in the region.
Junior forward Parker Plaxco, senior midfielder Liam Pritchard and senior defender Jaime Villagomez were among the 13 players named to the first team.
Junior midfielder Alan Rivera, sophomore midfielder Cooper Tea and senior defender Davis Mays were selected to the second team.
Plaxco is the leading goal scorer for the Mustangs with 12 goals, and he leads the team with 29 points this season.
Pritchard, the LSC Midfielder of the Year, is tied with Plaxco for the team lead and second in the conference with five assists. Pritchard has scored two goals this season, including the game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Lubbock Christian on Oct. 29.
Villagomez has two goals and four assists this season. He assisted Plaxco on a game-winning strike in the 63rd minute of a 1-0 victory over Westminster in the second game of the season. He scored the only goal in a non-conference win over St. Mary's on Sept. 17. He scored again in the next game at Southern Nazarene, which finished as a 2-2 draw. He added three assists during the conference campaign.
Rivera was named the LSC Newcomer of the Year and is tied for seventh in the LSC with five goals this season, including two game-winning strikes. His first goal of the season was the game-winning tally in a 2-0 win over Western Oregon, and he also scored the game-winner in a 2-0 triumph at Oklahoma Christian. Rivera has three assists this season, including one against UT Tyler in the LSC Men's Soccer Championship semifinals at Stang Park on Nov. 12.
Tea has scored five goals, including game-winning strikes against West Texas A&M and UT Tyler in the semifinals of the LSC Men's Soccer Championship. Tea completed a comeback against Newman in the home opener. MSU fell behind 3-0, but Tea scored the equalizer in the 85th minute for the Mustangs. He scored early in a 2-1 loss to St. Edward's and scored the third goal in a 3-0 win at Dallas Baptist. He also assisted on one of four goals scored by Plaxco in a 4-2 victory over Northwest Nazarene at Toyota Soccer Center in Frisco, Texas, on Sept. 25.
Mays, who also had an assist in Plaxco's four-goal outburst, is a fifth-year senior from Wichita Falls who returned home after starting his collegiate career at UT Tyler. Mays was the LSC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 13 after the Mustangs shut out UT Tyler and Oklahoma Christian in back-to-back games. Mays scored the first goal of the season for MSU in a 1-1 draw at Colorado Mesa. Mays played the full 90 minutes in 13 matches this season and logged 1,719 minutes for MSU, including 110 minutes in the overtime win against Seattle Pacific.
Midwestern State, which has a seven-game winning streak, is facing Stanislaus State for the first time in the history of the program, and the Mustangs are unbeaten on the road this season with a 5-0-2 record.
The winner on Sunday faces either No. 3-seed Point Loma or No. 10-seed UCCS, which eliminated second-seeded Cal State-Dominguez Hills in the second round, 3-1. The highest remaining seed hosts the quarterfinal match.
-- MSUMustangs.com --