PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico men's soccer team will look to climb the conference standings when they take on Oklahoma Christian and Midwestern State this weekend inside Greyhound Stadium.
LAST WEEK
The Hounds began last week with its first conference win following a 4-1 victory over DBU before falling 6-0
to St. Edward's.
The Greyhounds scored a pair of goals 35 seconds apart in the 36th minute to jump out to a 3-0 lead at the halftime break over DBU to exceed their win total from last season and match the second most wins in a single season in school history with nine. Four different Hounds recorded goals in a match that was rescheduled after play was suspended last Thursday afternoon due to weather conditions. Senior
Julian Trapp opened up the scoring in the 22nd minute after stealing a ball deep in Dallas Baptist territory and dribbled into the box before finishing in the bottom right corner of the goal. The Hounds would continue to roll with the momentum until the 36th minute during which time senior
Craig Brand found junior
Robbie Jenkinson on a corner kick to allow Jenkinson to record his second goal of the season. Eastern continued to pressure the Patriot backline and forced another turnover as sophomore
Joe Conway deflected an errant Patriot pass and dribbled down the sideline before putting a perfect cross onto the feet of forward
Gregory Franusic for the third Greyhound score of the half and second goal inside of the 36th minute. Conway joined in on the scoring for Eastern New Mexico after being tackled inside the Dallas Baptist box and converted on the ensuing penalty kick in the 66th minute to extend the Greyhound advantage to 4-0. Dallas Baptist would record a goal in the 77th minute to avoid the shutout loss.
Eastern struggled to create an offensive push as the Hounds fell to St. Edward's 6-0 Saturday morning. The Hilltoppers netted the first score of the game seven minutes into the contest and would net three more before the first half whistle. The home team added to their lead in the second half with a pair of insurance goals pushing the Hounds to 9-4-1 on the year with a 1-4-1 conference mark. Sophomore defender
Caio Pereira led the squad and finished with a season-high four shots as the Rio de Janeiro native tried to generate an offensive attack from the backline.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Eagles only managed one goal last week as the dropped a pair of games to St. Mary's and Texas A&M International. The result moves OC's losing streak to five straight, the longest winless drought in the Lone Star.
Oklahoma Christian continues to struggle offensively as they have scored the lowest amount of goals in the LSC at 15 while allowing 27 for a -1.00 scoring margin.
Senior forward/midfielder Diego Bazquez will look to get the Eagles rolling offensively as he leads the squad with nine points on three goals and three assists. Sharing the scoring load with Bazquez is midfielder Maxime Trabichet and forwards Vinicius Alves and Thomas van der Meulen who have all netted two goals apiece. In total 11 different OC players have scored at least one goal this season.
Junior Luke Humphrey anchors the Eagle's backline who is comfortable on the ball and can help develop play from the back. Humphrey leads all OC field players with 1,099 minutes.
The Eagles field senior goalkeeper Anthony Trabichet in the net, who has started all 12 games this season. Trabichet has totaled 65 saves and holds a .707 save percentage and a 2.20 goals against average.
David Scott is entering his 14th season as the head coach of the OC men's soccer program with a 85-118-21 career record. He has more coaching wins than any other soccer coach in OC history. Scott was named SAC Coach of the Year in 2006 after guiding the Eagles to a 12-5-2 record.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
The Mustangs played two double overtime matches last week, defeating Texas A&M International 3-2 before having their seven-game winning streak snapped after falling to St. Mary's 3-2.
Midwestern State has solidified themselves as the best statistical team in the conference as they lead the LSC with 37 goals scored and just 10 goals allowed for an impressive scoring margin of 2.08.
The Mustangs midline fields two of the most potent midfielders in the league in Hikaruhito Meike and Sebastian Venegas. Meike is the team's leading goal scorer with six while Venegas has tallied a team-high 15 points on five goals and five assists.
MSU boasts a well-balanced offense with 10 different players scoring two or more goals and 13 total Mustangs have scored at least once.
D2CCA All-Region and First Team All-Heartland selection Dylan Burke has followed up his impressive 2018 campaign as the anchor to one of the nation's best defenses. Burke leads the squad with 1,119 minutes and has also tallied a pair of assists from the backline
Junior goalkeeper Taylor Lampe represents the last line of defense for MSU and he leads the LSC with six shutouts and a .88 goals against average. Lamp has totaled 28 saves on 99 shots faced, posting a .737 save percentage and a 9-2-0 record. Sophomore keeper Marc-Antoine Huzen has made two starts in net for the Mustangs and has not allowed a goal on 17 shots faced.
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.
With just two weeks of play remaining in the regular season, 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 nine victories are tied for third all-time. The Hounds are on pace to move into the top ten in seven different statistical categories. The 2019 squad owns the third-highest single-season save percentage (.776) while posting the fourth-lowest goals against average (1.33). They rank sixth in goals per game (1.86), points per game (5.14) and shots on goal per game (6.36) while their 1.43 assists per game and 11.57 shots per game rank seventh and tenth respectively all-time.
CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Greyhounds boast one of the best backlines in the conference, and rank in the top five of most major defensive categories across the LSC. The Hounds lead all LSC competitors with a .776 save percentage and have posted the second-most shutouts (five) and total saves (66)
Eastern also fields some of the best individual players in the Lone Star including juniors
Charlie Hackshall and
Ross Dalton and sophomore
Joe Conway. Hackshall has totaled a league-leading six assists and is tied for fifth amongst all Division II men's soccer players with .55 assists per game. Dalton leads the conference with a .789 save percentage and has tallied the second most saves (60) and third-lowest goals against average (1.26) while posting five complete game shutouts. Conway is tied for eighth in the LSC with five goals scored while his 13 points are good enough for the tenth-best mark
SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
With four games remaining before the postseason, the Hounds will need to rattle off some victories if they hope to make the LSC Tournament. The Hounds currently sit at ninth in the league standings while the top seven schools qualify for the playoffs. The Hounds can climb as high as sixth place this week if they turn in an undefeated week.
Following this week's homestand the Hounds will travel to UT Permian Basin before wrapping-up their regular season at home against Lubbock Christian.
SCORE FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LAST
With 17 total victories under Head Coach Fridal's belt all have come when the Hounds score the match's first points, posting a 17-4-1 overall record in that scenario. The Hounds have also compiled an impressive 15-2-1 record when netting more than two goals in a match under the tutelage of Fridal.
HOUNDS AT HOME
The Green and Silver have posted a 3-2-0 record this season inside Greyhound Stadium. The Hounds have recorded victories over Fort Hays State and UT Permian Basin before handing rival West Texas A&M a 2-1 loss, defeating the Buffs for just the third time in ENMU history.
