BETHANY, Okla. -- Midwestern State is on the road for its first four matches of the season, and the journey begins at Southern Nazarene on Thursday evening. Kickoff at Wanda Rhodes Soccer Complex is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The next stop on the road trip is Arkadelphia, Arkansas, for a showdown with Ouachita Baptist at Kluck Field on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

The Mustangs are coming off their second NCAA postseason appearance under head coach Ryan Spence after finishing last season with an 11-5-5 record.

Midfielder Nyxalee Munoz returns for her senior season after finishing last season with eight goals and three assists. Munoz was second on the team with 19 points and earned All-LSC honors. The native of Odessa, Texas, scored four game-winning goals last year.

Sloan Sullivan, who was named to the LSC All-Freshman team last season, is a pivotal defender for the Mustangs, and she assisted on two goals last year.

Freshman goalkeeper Lauren Short is likely to start for the Mustangs. The 5-7 freshman played with FC Dallas White ECRL-NTX, made 57 appearances over three seasons at Emerson High School in McKinney, Texas, and posted seven clean sheets in her senior season, finishing with a record of 10-5-0 for the Mavericks.

Sophomore forward Madison Brinkley, who scored four goals in the first three games last season, is back after making 19 starts last year and scoring six goals for the Mustangs.

Senior Lillia Besedin provides veteran leadership in the midfield, and the Western Oregon transfer contributed five goals last season. Besedin scored a 53rd-minute goal in the opening round of the of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional, but Colorado Mesa rallied for a 2-1 victory in Golden, Colorado.

Midwestern State has won its last four meetings with Southern Nazarene and leads the all-time series 5-3. The Mustangs and Crimson Storm have not met on the pitch since 2016, when MSU scored twice in the final four minutes to pull out a 2-0 victory.

Midwestern State is making its first ever trip to Arkadelphia to face Ouachita Baptist. MSU won two previous encounters in Wichita Falls, but the schools have not faced off since 2003, when the Mustangs outshot the Tigers 42-2 en route to a 3-0 victory. Midwestern State won its first confrontation with Ouachita Baptist 5-0 in 1999, scoring all five goals in the second half.

Southern Nazarene: Southern Nazarene was 6-5-7 overall last season and finished with a 5-1-4 record at home. The Crimson Storm finished with a 4-2-6 record in the Great American Conference and fell to Ouachita Baptist, 3-2, in the semifinals of the GAC Championships.

Bella Morgas led Southern Nazarene with four goals and three assists last season, and the forward from El Paso is back for her junior season. Morgas scored 15 goals for the Crimson Storm as a freshman in 2023, and the team was 10-4-5 with a 6-2-4 conference record.

Senior goalkeeper Gianna Bonnett has appeared in 54 career matches for the Crimson Storm and is two saves shy of 300 for her career. Last year, Bonnett had eight clean sheets and a goals-against average of 0.84.

Ouachita Baptist: Ouachita Baptist is the two-time defending champion in the GAC but is picked to finish third in the GAC preseason poll.

The Tigers, winners of the past two GAC tournament titles and winners of last season's regular season championship, return 16 letter winners from the 2024 squad that made it to the NCAA tournament for the third time in program history. Among the returners are all-region forward Reese Brown and all-conference midfielder Allison Reece.

Brown, a junior forward from Frisco, Texas, was a member of the United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team last year and was an All-GAC First Team selection. Brown finished the season second on the team in points with four goals and four assists for 12 points. As a true freshman in 2023, Brown scored three goals.

Reece had five goals and one assist for the Tigers last season, helping Ouachita Baptist to an 8-8-4 record overall and a 6-3-3 mark in the conference — winning its first regular season GAC championship.
Reece played 95 minutes in the GAC Tournament Finals as the Tigers lifted the trophy after defeating Oklahoma Baptist 4-3 in a PK shootout. The two teams played a scoreless draw through 110 minutes. Ouachita Baptist became a four-time GAC Tournament champion.