WICHITA FALLS, Texas - - Midwestern State returns home to Stang Park after extending its unbeaten streak to 22 games with a 3-0 win at UT Tyler on Wednesday night. Oklahoma Christian visits the Mustangs on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Juan David Valencia Vacca, Lawrence Doe, Jr. and Liam Kervick all scored goals, and Jake Morris recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season in the midweek triumph at UT Tyler.
Midwestern State (9-0-2, 3-0-0) has the best goal differential in the conference, and second-best in NCAA Division II at plus-24, outscoring the opposition through the first 11 games this season, 31-7.
Parker Plaxco, the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week, has scored seven goals in the last six games for the Mustangs, including three game-winning goals. Plaxco is the leading goal scorer in the Lone Star Conference and 13th in the nation with eight goals this season.
Jose Ortiz is the second-leading goal scorer in the LSC with seven, including a four-goal outburst in the season-opening 5-0 win over Cal State East Bay in Richardson, Texas. Ortiz scored the game-winning goal against Simon Fraser. The senior transfer from SMU is 19th in NCAA Division II among goal scorers.
Ten Mustangs have scored goals this season. Doe and Valencia have scored three goals. Alan Rivera, Cooper Tea, Liam Kervick and Italo Rodriguez have all scored twice this season. Victor Hernandez III and Cristopher Guevara and have all found the back of the net once this season.
Cooper Tea leads the Mustangs with five assists and Ethan Krchnak has four assists. MSU is 13th in the nation with 24 assists, which is the most in the LSC. Oscar Nunez, Davis Mays and Rivera have accounted for three assists. Tanner Tea has two assists. Valencia, Hernandez, Skyler Krchnak and Eduardo Cerna each have one assist for the Stang Gang.
Midwestern State is first in the league with 7.8 points per game, which is eighth in the nation, and the Mustangs are second in the LSC with 2.2 assists per game.
Midwestern State is outshooting opponents 190-111, and the Mustangs are putting 43.2 percent of their shots on frame, while opponents are putting 44.1 percent of their shots on goal.
Morris, the LSC Goalkeeper of the Week for the second straight week, has played 990 minutes and has a save percentage of .857 with a 0.64 goals-against average. Morris made a season-high six saves in a 6-1 win over Colorado Mesa earlier this season. The junior from Parker, Colorado, has made five saves twice this season. He made three saves for his third consecutive shutout in the win at UT Tyler.
Midwestern State is 25-2-1 in the all-time series with Oklahoma Christian and is 15-0-1 when hosting the Eagles. The Mustangs have won the last six meetings, including a 2-0 victory last year in Edmond, Oklahoma, as Kervick assisted Rivera in the 12th minute at Eagle Soccer Field.
Oklahoma Christian (4-4-2, 1-0-2) has a three-game unbeaten streak following a 2-0 victory over West Texas A&M on Wednesday night. Tyler Ackah-Wheatcroft scored his third goal of the season in the 15th minute of the match, and Joshua Wells added his first goal of the campaign three minutes later. Igor Caballero assisted on both goals, and Dante Cafarro made one save for his fourth clean sheet of the season.
Oklahoma Christian is outscoring its opponents 13-9 this season. Kenzo Shabazz-Edwards is the leading goal scorer for the Eagles with five this season, and he leads the team with 10 points. Caballero has six assists to lead OC. Ackah-Wheatcroft and Caballero each have six points for Oklahoma Christian, which is fourth in the conference with 4.3 points per game and 1.3 assists per game.
Caffaro is 4-3-2 with a save percentage of .743 and a 1.00 goals-against average. Caffaro has allowed nine goals and made 28 saves for OC.
The Eagles are second in the conference with 8.2 fouls per game and have been shown the second-most yellow cards in the LSC.
Ackah-Wheatcroft, Caballero, Shabazz-Edwards and Luca Winder have all been booked three times this season. Ashton Mullins and Hunter Wilson have been shown a yellow card twice. All told, the Eagles have seen 24 yellow cards this season.
Midwestern State is home again on Wednesday night to face Dallas Baptist. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Stang Park.
-- MSUMustangs.com --