Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
ENMU's Gregory Franusic leaps to try to head in a corner kick, but the ball is over his head and corraled by Wayland Baptist goaltender Juan Basabe in their exhibition match Monday at Greyhound Stadium. The Hounds won 2-0 via a first-half own goal and a second-half tally from sophomore Joe Conway.
RICHARDSON, Texas - After coming up just a win short of making the playoffs last year as a member of the Heartland Conference, Eastern New Mexico is expected to be right in the playoff fight as it rejoins the Lone Star Conference.
The Greyhounds were picked fifth in the LSC men's soccer poll, released Tuesday morning by the league office. This is the first time since the 2012 season the LSC has fielded men's soccer as a sport.
In July, the conference expanded to 19 schools, with 11 of them playing men's soccer. The teams should be relatively familiar with each other, as 10 of the LSC's 11 men's soccer teams belonged to the Heartland last season.
Midwestern State, which won the South Central Regional last year and went 12-1-1 in conference play, was the clear choice to win the conference with 22 of th 25 first-place votes for 271 points from LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives.
The Mustangs are followed by West Texas A&M, which netted two first-place votes and 236 points, then St. Edward's (214), St. Mary's (192) and the Greyhounds (156), who edged out Lubbock Christian (154) for fifth place.
The final five teams in the poll are Texas A&M-International, UT Tyler, Oklahoma Christian, Texas Permian Basin and Dallas Baptist. The Falcons took the remaining first-place vote.
Eastern New Mexico is coming off an 8-8-2 season, and was edged out by Lubbock Christian on the final weekend of the season last year for a playoff spot.
Individual awards for preseason players of the year went to WT's Lucca Lima for offensive player following his 11-goal, seven-assist 2018 season, teammate Alexander Vencel as goalkeeper of the year and Midwestern State's Rory O'Keeffe the top defensive player. Vencel was second in Division II last season with an .881 save percentage, while O'Keeffe anchored a Mustange defense that allowed just 12 goals all season.
The LSC will feature a 20-game conference schedule, with each team facing its other 10 opponents once at home and once on the road. The top six teams make the playoff field, with the top two teams receiving first-round byes. The third and fourth seeds will host the sixth and fifth seeds, respectively, Nov. 12, with winners moving on to the home site of the No. 1 seed for the semifinals Nov. 15 and title match Nov. 17.
School (first-place votes) Pts
1. Midwestern State (22) 271
2. West Texas A&M (2) 236
3. St. Edward's 214
4. St. Mary's 192
5. Eastern New Mexico 156
6. Lubbock Christian 154
7. Texas A&M International 137
8. UT Tyler 88
9. Oklahoma Christian 84
10. UT Permian Basin (1) 69
11. Dallas Baptist 49
