DATE: Feb. 23
TIME: 1 p.m.
OPPONENT: West Texas A&M  
LOCATION: Tyler, Texas | UT Tyler Soccer Practice Field   
PATRIOT'S RECORD: 0-1-0 (0-0-0 LSC)
BUFF'S RECORD: 0-0-0 (0-0-0 LSC)
LIVE STATS LINK: https://uttylerpatriots.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary
 
TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's soccer team will get an abbreviated spring Lone Star Conference schedule started Tuesday afternoon at home against West Texas A&M.
 
The Patriots fell in a non-conference match with Lubbock Christian back on Feb. 6 by a 1-0 final to start off 2021, and will look to use that experience to get off to a quality start in Lone Star Conference play this week. UT Tyler totaled a 2-5-3 record in Lone Star Conference play in 2019, the program's first time competing in the league in the school's second year in the NCAA Division II transition period.
 
After the cancellation of the fall championship season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lone Star Conference announced an abbreviated spring semester for men's soccer that will feature nine teams competing in a single-round robin schedule. The top four teams based on conference points will advance to the LSC Men's Soccer Championship, currently scheduled to take place on April 10 and 12.
 
The Patriots will be eligible for qualification into the postseason tournament as the NCAA announced that all fall championships will not take place do to the COVID-19 pandemic this spring.
 
The match will take place at the UT Tyler soccer practice field due to current playing conditions at Citizens 1^st Bank-Perkins Soccer Complex.
 
A REVITALIZED ROSTER
 
Head coach Kenny Jones started six brand new Patriots on Feb. 6 against Lubbock Christian that joined the program this season. Those six newcomers joined a returning core of Michael Agyeman, Edwin Saldivar, Sergio Sola, Ramiro Alvarez and Birkir Eydal, who all got the start in the contest.
 
The speed and overall team athleticism seemed to already have taken a major step up with the six newcomers, as well as a talented goalkeeper that saw his first action as a Patriot in Mathias Eriksen. Thierry Assamoi, Alfie Hipwell and Luis Mahecha all recorded the first shots of their career as Patriots in that 1-0 loss against Lubbock Christian, while Mahecha was especially active, leading the team with six shot attempts, two of which were on goal.
 
Mahecha displayed a good compliment of skills to fellow midfielder Eydar, who played primarily at the opposite winger position and returned as UT Tyler's returning point leader in 2021 with eight from last year. 
 
HISTORY WITH THE BUFFS
 
UT Tyler and West Texas A&M fought to a 1-1 draw back on Oct. 3, 2019 in the only other previous meeting between the two programs. Ramiro Alvarez nearly scored the golden goal with just seconds remaining on the clock at the end of double-overtime, hitting the far post on a shot with the goalkeeper out.
 
SCOUTING THE BUFFS
 
West Texas A&M finished with an 8-7-2 record in 2019, including a mark of 4-4-2 in Lone Star Conference play. The Buffs were selected to finish fourth in the 2021 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll earlier this spring despite not winning 10 or more games for the first time since 2015.
 
Head coach Butch Lauffer is entering his 29^th season as the Buff's head coach and has coached the squad to 27 consecutive seasons without a losing season. Lauffer will return the team's leader in points from 2019 in Kenny Brown (10), as well as the team's top goalkeeper in Alexander Vencel.
 
Brown was named a United Soccer Coaches All-South Central Second Team selection for his efforts in that 2019 campaign