PORTALES, N.M. ­– The Eastern New Mexico men's soccer team will look to avenge a 1-3 defeat at the feet of West Texas A&M when they host the Buffs Thursday night in a non-conference matchup inside Greyhound Stadium.
 
LAST WEEK
 
The Hounds will look to get back to their winning ways after suffering a 3-2 loss to St. Mary's and were shutout 1-0 by #16 Texas A&M International.
 
Eastern netted the first and last goals of the night against SMU, but were unable to overcome three unanswered goals in between by the Rattlers. Sophomore Joe Conway netted his fourth goal of the season off an assist from classmate Julian Trapp at the 79:09 mark of the second half to make things interesting down the stretch, but St. Mary's was able to hang on to give Eastern its first loss at home for the season. The match proved to be highly physical and highly competitive as the shots on goal were fairly balanced with St. Mary's putting eight on target and the Hounds putting seven on target. Trapp finished the match with four shots on goal to lead all players and also tacked on his third goal of the season at the 20:13 mark. That goal broke the 0-0 tie thanks to a beautiful through-ball from Conway that set the 6'4" striker up with a low bullet that found the back of the net. Trapp and Conway were the lone Hounds to record multiple shots on goal throughout the contest.
 
Against TAMI, the Hounds battled throughout the afternoon and maintained the majority of the possession throughout the match, but couldn't find a way to break down a solid back line of defense by the #16 ranked team in the country. The difference in the match proved to be a free kick goal by the Dust Devils just outside of the Eastern New Mexico box at the 56 minute mark. Eastern finished the game with six total shots, two of which were on target. Junior Charlie Hackshall proved to be a difference maker throughout the game once again for the Hounds, consistently moving the ball on the offensive attack while finishing with one of the shot on goal attempts for the Hounds. Senior Craig Brand recorded the other shot on goal attempt for Eastern New Mexico. Both teams displayed a physical brand of soccer with 33 total fouls between the two squads and six total bookings.
 
Scouting the Buffs
 
The Buffs only managed a single goal last week as they dropped a pair of matches to Texas A&M International and St. Mary's.
 
Head Coach Butch Lauffer is the longest tenured coach in West Texas A&M program history as he enters his 30th season with an 527-217-55 overall record. Last season Lauffer led the buffs to a record-setting 17-3-3 mark and earned the South Central Regional tittle.
 
The Buffs offense has struggled so far this season, recording a league-low 12 goals scored. WT has performed better on the defensive end of the field as they are tied for the third-fewest goals allowed with ten.
 
Sophomore midfielder Kenny Brown heads the Buffs offensive attack as he leads the squad with four goals. Brown is on of the most prolific shooters in the Lone Star Conference as he ranks second in shots on goal per game  (1.88) and fourth in total shots (27).
 
Junior defender Marchall Ball anchors the backline for WT as the Little Hampton, England native has played all 740 minutes this season for the Buffs. He leads all WT defenders with six total shots with two of them making it on goal.
 
WT fields Alexander Vencel between the pipes and has compiled a 2-3-0 record and 23 saves in 450 minutes played. The junior has surrendered eight goals on the year, the second-lowest mark amongst conference competitors. Sophomore Colin Burgiel has made three starts in net for the Buffs and has yet to be defeated, earning a 2-0-1 record and totaling nine saves.
 
2019 Story Lines
 
The Green and Silver began the year with the best start in program history and rattled off a record-setting six consecutive victories to begin the 2019 campaign.
 
After just six weeks of play, the 2019 Hounds have established themselves as one of the best in the 16-year history of the program. They are currently one shutout shy of owning the ENMU single-season record while their seven victories are tied for seventh all-time. The Hounds are on pace to move into the top ten in seven different statistical categories. The 2019 squad owns the second-lowest single-season goals against average (1.00) while posting the second-highest save percentage (.823). They rank seventh in points per game (5.00) and goals per game (1.82) and rank ninth in assists per game (1.36), shots per game (11.82) and saves per game (4.64).
 
Conference Leaders
 
The Greyhounds boast a well-balanced squad, and rank in the top five of most major offensive and defensive categories across the conference. Offensively, ENMU ranks fourth with 55 points on 20 goals and 15 assists and average 7.09 shots on goal per game. On the defensive side of the ball the Hounds are second in saves (51) and shutouts (five) while posting the third-lowest goals against average (1.00).
 
Eastern also fields some of the best individual players in the Lone Star including juniors Charlie Hackshall and Ross Dalton. Hackshall has totaled a league-leading six assists and is tied for 21st amongst all Division II men's soccer players in that category. Dalton leads the conference with 51 saves and holds the second-best save percentage (.823) and third-lowest goals against average (1.00) while posting five complete game shutouts.
 
Schedule Outlook
 
Following the grudge match against WT, the Hounds will pack their bags as they travel to DBU Thursday Oct. 24before facing off against St. Edward's Saturday, Oct. 26.
 
Eastern will hold its final homestand of the season the following week with a Halloween game against Oklahoma Christian prior to taking the field against the conference-leading and No. six ranked team in the nation Midwestern State.
 
Score First, Ask Questions Last
 
With 15 total victories under Head Coach Fridal's belt all have come when the Hounds score the match's first points, posting a 15-4-1 overall record in that scenario. The Hounds have also compiled an impressive 14-2-1 record when netting more than two goals in a match under the tutelage of Fridal.
 
Hounds at Home
 
The Green and Silver have posted an even 2-2-0 record this season inside Grehound Stadium. The Hounds won their first two matchups, outscoring their opponents 7-2 in those victories but were handed back-to-back losses last week.