LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-5-2, 4-2-2) vs.
WEST TEXAS A&M (8-5-1, 4-3-1)
Thursday, November 7 – 6:30 p.m.
Frenship Soccer Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
 
CHAPARRAL HEADERS

• With two games left to play in the regular season, LCU has 14 points in the conference standings and has already clinched a spot in the LSC Championships
• LCU has scored 29 goals this season, which is the fifth most in the Lone Star Conference. It is four fewer, however, than they scored during the 2018 season
• The Chaps have played past the 90 minute mark in six of their last seven games, going 3-1-2 in overtime. The only regulation game in that span was on Oct. 31 at Texas A&M-International
• Redshirt junior defender Jonathan Woods is the only LCU player to have been on the field for every minute of every game this season, currently having played 1437 minutes
• Forward Fernando Flores still has the most game-winning goals in the Lone Star Conference this season with four. His total also ranks 13 among all Division II players

 
SENIOR DAY
Lubbock Christian has four seniors on the team this season in Abdou Joof, Richie Vaca-Cordova, Conner Dean and Emilio Marti. The four will be honored on the field fifteen minutes prior to the start of the game on Thursday. Dean is the only one of the four to have spent his entire collegiate career with the Chaps, while Joof and Vaca-Cordova joined the team as sophomores and Marti transferred in as a junior. Together this season, they have contributed more than 3000 minutes, seven goals, four assists and 18 points.
 
90-PLUS
This past Saturday, LCU fought to a 1-1 draw with St. Mary's, playing past regulation for the sixth time in the last seven games. The only game to not go into overtime since the beginning of October was the 10/31 loss at Texas A&M International. In those six overtime games, however, the Chaps have posted a 3-1-2 record, averaging 11.7 shots and 1.83 goals per game. Nine different players have netted goals in those six contests, led by Fernando Flores and Caram Carneiro Alves with two each. Tariq Bakkali's 13 shots are the most by a Chap in the games. LCU's six overtime games match the program single-season record, which was set last year.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
The Chaps will wrap up their home schedule on Thursday, having gone 5-1 at the LCU Soccer Field so far this season. LCU's only loss at home this season came at the hands of nationally ranked Midwestern State, and their five home victories are their most in a single season since 2014 when they were 5-3-1. The Chaps have only had more than five home wins once in the program's history, when they were 8-1-1 in 2011. Since head coach Paul Gilbert took over in 2016, the Chaps have gone 15-11-4 when playing at home.
 
OFFENSINVE OUTPUT
When Conner Dean scored the lone Lubbock Christian goal in last Saturday's draw with No. 5 St. Mary's, he became the 10^th different Chap to have scored this season for an LCU offense that ranks as the fourth best in the Lone Star Conference. The Chaps have been efficient, tallying the fourth fewest shots of any LSC team, but averaging the fourth most goals per game with a scoring average of 1.93. Fernando Flores has led the offense with nine goals and 21 points, but Bakkali, Pablo Galietero Diez, Joof, Carneiro Alves and Marti have all netted multiple goals as well. If the goals per game average of 1.93 holds up through the remainder of the season, it will be the highest Chap scoring average since 2014 when they averaged 2.19 goals per game while going 9-6-1.
 
SCOUTING WEST TEXAS A&M

• Buffs come into the game one point behind Lubbock Christian in the conference standings, having gone 4-3-1 in LSC play so far
• Midfielder Kenny Brown's five goals and 10 points are both the highest marks on the team
• WT is averaging just 1.36 goals per game this year, which is the third-worst mark in the conference
• Alexander Vencel has done the majority of the Buff goalkeeping, allowing 14 goals and making 43 saves
• West Texas A&M was ranked ninth in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and reached as high as No. 6, but it no longer receiving votes

 
THE SERIES WITH THE BUFFS
Thursday's meeting will be the 11^th ever between Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M, with WT holding a 6-4 advantage all-time. Three of those meetings came in 2018 alone, with the Chaps taking down the Buffs twice in the regular season before losing to them in the Heartland Conference Tournament. Looking only at games played in Lubbock, the series is even at two wins apiece.
 
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS

• Eastern New Mexico currently sits just outside of the playoff picture in seventh place with only seven conference points
• The Greyhounds are averaging 1.88 goals per game this year while allowing 1.41 from their opponents
• ENMU is coming off a big 2-1 win against then-No. 13 Midwestern State last Thursday in Portales
• Joe Conway and Julian Trapp are tied for the team lead with six goals apiece
• The Greyhounds will be on the road Thursday, taking on UT Permian Basin in Odessa before the return home to face the Chaps

THE SERIES WITH ENMU
Lubbock Christian's fifth game ever in program history came against Eastern New Mexico and was a 1-0 win for the Chaps. Since then, the two teams have faced off another 13 times, with the Greyhounds holding a 6-4 advantage with four ties. Neither team has ever won more than two games in a row in the series, and that held true last year as they fought to a draw in Lubbock and LCU won 2-1 in Portales.