WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The defending national champions host Southern Nazarene in the home opener on Thursday night. Kickoff at Stang Park is at 7 p.m.

Midwestern State (2-0-2) just completed a two-game road trip to the Rocky Mountains, and the Mustangs remained unbeaten with a pair of draws.

Lawrence Doe, Jr. scored his second goal of the season in the 72nd minute at Mountain Lion Stadium, and MSU earned a 1-1 draw with No. 12-ranked UCCS in its first true road game of the season.

Victor Hernandez scored his first goal of the season in the 59th minute to pull Midwestern State even with MSU Denver after the Roadrunners scored in the 57th minute to establish a short-lived lead. Jose Ortiz scored his fifth goal of the season in the 64th minute to put MSU on top 2-1, but Jace Starling scored for the Roadrunners in the 79th minute, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Ortiz is the leading goal scorer in NCAA Division II, and Cooper Tea is fifth in the nation with three assists. Ethan Krchnak and Oscar Nunez each have two assists. 

Jake Morris has made 15 saves and conceded four goals in four matches. His save percentage is .789. The junior from Parker, Colorado, opened the season with a clean sheet against Cal State East Bay.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Southern Nazarene 24-4-1 and is unbeaten in the last nine meetings. The draw came last year with the Mustangs conceding two goals in a seven-and-a-half-minute span of the second half after taking a 2-0 lead with a goal late in the first half and one early in the second half. Southern Nazarene outshot the Mustangs at Wanda Rhodes Soccer Complex 15-11 and both teams had six shots on goal. 

The Crimson Storm are visiting Midwestern State for the 18th time, and their only win at Stang Park came in the 1989 meeting, when Southern Nazarene prevailed, 2-1.

Southern Nazarene (2-1-0) is coming off a 1-0 win over West Texas A&M in its home opener on Saturday. Junior forward Pedro Belmont broke up a scoreless draw with a goal in the 89th minute assisted by Ryunosuke Noda. 

Freshman forward Wesley Rodriguez scored two goals for the Crimson Storm in a 2-1 win over McKendree after Maryville shut out Southern Nazarene in its season opener, 2-0.

Junior goalkeeper Aimar Aramendia has 11 saves and a .786 save percentage through three matches.

Southern Nazarene finished last season with a 6-8-3 record and was 3-4-1 on the road.

Midwestern State returns to Stang Park on Saturday night to meet Cal Poly Pomona with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.