COMMERCE, TEXAS - The A&M-Commerce soccer team (6-2-0) strung together a two-game winning streak on Friday, and look to expand upon that on Sunday when they host the West Texas A&M University Lady Buffs (3-5-0).
West Texas A&M will enter Sunday's action after splitting two games, beating Southwestern Oklahoma State 3-0 before losing 1-2 to the No. 6 ranked team in the region, Lone Star Conference (LSC) rivals Texas Woman's. The Lions meanwhile have most recently beaten Ouachita Baptist (4-0) and Eastern New Mexico (3-1). Their last loss comes over a week ago, when they fell 0-1 to the No. 18 ranked team in the nation, St. Edward's.
The Lady Buffs are led on offense by junior midfielder
Emily Kranek, who's scored four goals on the season. WT has also used sophomore
Karyn Forbes, who's tallied three assists on the year, to set things up on the offensive end. It's not only Kranek who gets it done on offense either, as six other players have scored goals for West Texas A&M in 2014. WT will have to hope their spread out offensive production can go toe-to-toe with Lions' top forwards
Savannah Henderson and
Jade Bell, who each enter Sunday's contest with double-digit points.
In goal, the Lady Buffs have relied on freshman
McKynzie Zick, who has played every minute of the 2014 WT campaign thus far. Zick has racked up three shutouts and 24 saves while allowing nine goals on the season for a save percentage of .727. Conversely, her counterpart in goal for the Lions, junior keeper
Courtnie Northern, has also played every game of the season, though her numbers are the more impressive. She has earned three shutouts and has made a ridiculous 52 saves already in 2014, only allowing six goals to get by her. She is sporting a save percentage of .897, and is currently averaging 6.5 saves per game through eight games. To put that in perspective, the most saves per game a keeper at A&M-Commerce has ever averaged over the course of a season was Catherine Cole in 1995 with 6.62. Nobody else has eclipsed 6.
Despite West Texas A&M currently sitting at the bottom of the Lone Star Conference standings (3-5-0 overall, 0-1 in conference), they do hold the historical advantage. Sunday will mark the 31st time on record that the Lions and Lady Buffs have gone at it, with WT going 17-11-2 in those matchups. The last time the Lions were able to defeat the Lady Buffs in Commerce was in 2011.
The game is scheduled to begin Sunday, September 28 at noon. Tickets are available at the gate for $5 to those ages 13 and above. For children 12 and under as well as for students with a current ID, admission is free.
