LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (0-0) at
UT TYLER (0-0)
Saturday, February 6 – 1 p.m.
Perkins Soccer Complex – Tyler, Texas
 
CHAPARRAL HEADERS

• With a 5-3-2 LSC record in 2019, Lubbock Christian posted back-to-back winning records in conference play for the first time since the 2013-14 seasons
• Head coach Paul Gilbert returns for his fifth season leading LCU, having gone 28-36-9 in his four seasons. He currently ranks third on the all-time LCU win list, seven back of the program wins mark.
• The Chaps return nearly all of their impact players from the 2019 season, including All-Region selections Ivan Muanze-Bengono and Fernando Flores.
• The 2021 spring schedule features nine regular season games, four of which will be played at home at the brand new LCU Soccer & Track Complex, which was completed this past August.
• At the end of the regular season, the top four teams in the league based on points will advance to the LSC Men's Soccer Championship, which will take place on April 10 & 12.

 
GUESS WHO'S BACK
Lubbock Christian returns 15 players from its 2019 roster, including 22 of the 33 goals (66 percent) of the goals they scored a season ago. First Team All-Conference and All-Region selections Fernando Flores and Ivan Muanze-Bengono both return to the squad after stellar 2019 performances, as does Tariq Bakkali, who scored six goals last year and was named to the LSC All-Academic Team. The 2019 goalkeeper, Braxton Thorne, also returns after making 67 saves and posting a goals against average of 1.64. Thorne is already LCU's program leader in saves with 152 through his first two seasons in the net.
 
EXTRA TIME
The Chaparrals had a knack for needing more than 90 minutes to decide the outcome of a game last season, going into overtime six times overall. They were highly successful in periods where a golden goal could decide their fate, however, going 3-1-2 in overtime games. Overtime game-winners from the Chaps during the season came from Flores (10/5 vs. OC), Hector Rodriguez-Cabo (10/21 at DBU) and Richie Vaca-Cordova (10/25 vs. UTT). LCU's only overtime loss came on 10/17 at UT Permian Basin, and their two ties were on 10/10 at St. Edward's and 11/2 at No. 5 St. Mary's. Lubbock Christian also went into overtime six times during the 2018 season.
 
CRYSTAL BALL GAZING
The spring 2021 Lone Star Conference preseason poll and awards were announced on Thursday, with the Chaps picked to finish fifth in this year's league standings. Flores and Muanze-Bengono were also recognized as the Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively. Fifth place is exactly where the Chaps finished in 2019, and they were slated in that spot in the poll thanks to 113 points. Midwestern State was picked to win the league with 171 total points and 13 of the 20 first place votes.
 
HIT THE ROAD, CHAPS
LCU will be starting the spring 2021 season on the road, which they last did in 2018. The Chaps struggled on the road last season, going 3-6-2 in away games compared to their stellar 6-1-0 record at home. In their 11 road games last year, LCU scored 15 goals on seven assists, but of the 31 total goals they allowed on the year, 20 of them came in road games. The last time Lubbock Christian had a winning record on the road was in 2015, when they went 6-3-0, but they struggled at home that year (2-4-2).
 
FINAL FORTY-FIVE
During the 2019 season, Lubbock Christian's offense was far better in the second half than they were in the first half. Of the 33 goals scored by LCU's offense, 19 came in the final 45 minutes, compared to just 11 in the first half (three were scored in overtime). Furthermore, LCU recorded 115 second-half shots to just 90 in the first half and also tallied 37 second-half corner kicks to just 16 in the first half of games. Of their 18 matches in the 2019 season, the Chaps were leading at halftime of just five of those.
 
SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS

• UT Tyler was in the middle of the pack last year both offensively and defensively among teams in the LSC, ranking seventh in both scoring average (1.53 goals per game) and opponent scoring (1.65 goals against).
• This is the second and final year of UTT's transition from Division III to Division II and their second year in the Lone Star Conference.
• The Patriots were picked to finish sixth in the LSC Preseason Poll, right behind LCU. They earned 71 points in the poll.
• Kenny Jones is still at the helm of the UTT men's soccer program, which has never seen a head coach besides him. He has led the Patriots for 18 seasons, going 212-73-40 in that time.
• The Patriots will be replacing their goalkeeper from the 2019 season, as Parker O'Quinn, who started all 17 UTT games, graduated.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE PATRIOTS
Lubbock Christian and UT Tyler have met just once in the history of the two programs, last year in a game at the LCU Soccer Field. Both teams scored goals early, and UT Tyler took a lead in the 68^th minute. The Chaps responded almost immediately with a goal of their own, and the two teams remained tied through the end of regulation and the first overtime period. In the second overtime period though, Richie Vaca-Cordova got the ball at the top of the 18-yard box, spun, and fired a shot that bounced off the right post and in to give LCU the win.