The Eastern New Mexico men’s soccer team will be facing its stiffest competition of the season as they will travel Wichita Falls, Texas on Thursday to face No. 3 Midwestern State at 6 p.m. and then head to Oklahoma City on Saturday for a noon match against Oklahoma Christian.

LAST TIME OUT
The Hounds are coming off a solid week as they picked up a 5-2 win at home over UT-Permian Basin on Oct. 4 and followed it up with a 2-2 tie at No. 23 West Texas A&M on Oct. 6.

Eastern opened the week with their strongest offensive performance of the season as they had season-highs in goals (5), shots (26) and shots on-goal (12). It was only the third time in the last five seasons that ENMU scored five or goals in a match, with the last coming on Sept. 7, 2017 in a 5-4 overtime win over UC-Colorado Springs. Freshman forward Aderi Arthur-Dede netted a pair of goals in the match, including the first goal at the 1:02 mark. Sophomore midfielder Gabriel Peres finished the match with a goal and a pair of assists for four total points. Sophomore defender Joao Gabriel Andrade and freshman forward Julian Trapp each scored a goal for the Greyhounds in the match as well.

In the following match, the Hounds rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit with a pair of second half goals by Gregory Franusic in the 61st minute and Peres in the 81st minute to come away with a 2-all draw against the 23rd-ranked team in NCAA Division II, West Texas A&M after two scoreless overtime periods. The Hounds made some fantastic second half adjustments after getting outshot 15-1 in the first half, as they outshot the Buffs 11-3 in the second half.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
The nationally third-ranked Midwestern State hold an undefeated 10-0-1 record overall and a 7-0-1 record in Heartland Conference play. The Mustangs are coming off a pair of road wins last week as they scored a game-winner on a penalty in the 99th minute in a 3-2 overtime decision at St. Edward’s on Oct. 4 and followed it up with a 4-1 victory at Oklahoma Christian on Oct. 6.

MSU leads the HC in goals allowed, giving up just nine through their 11 matches and rank second in the conference with 32 goals scored. The Mustangs feature a balanced scoring attack that has produced 14 different goal scorers this season. Leading that attack is junior midfielder Gi Leme with a team-high five goals scored. Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Lampke has started in goal for all 11 matches and has a 10-0-1 record with 19 saves, only nine goals allowed, and has pitched three shutouts.

HISTORY WITH THE MUSTANGS
Midwestern State has controlled the all-time series against the Hounds with a 20-1-3 edge. In last season’s meeting in Portales, the Hounds were defeated by the Mustangs by a score of 4-0. Eastern is seeking its first win against the Mustangs since Oct. 27, 2014, when the Hounds went into Wichita Falls and came away with the 2-1 victory.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Oklahoma Christian enters the week with a 6-5-1 record and a 4-3-1 mark in Heartland Conference play. Last week, the Eagles came away with a 1-0 road victory last Thursday before dropping a 4-1 decision at home to No. 3 Midwestern State on Saturday.

The Eagles enter the week second-to-last in the HC in scoring averaging, netting just 1.231 goals per match after scoring 16 goals in their 13 matches this season. Leading the Eagles is senior midfielder Matheus Mantovani, who has scored a team-high six goals and three assists. The Hounds will likely see freshman goalkeeper Anthony Trabichet, who has started all 12 matches for the Eagles, and has a 6-5-1 record to go with 63 saves on a 0.768 save percentage and has conceded 19 goals on the year.

HISTORY WITH THE EAGLES
The Hounds have had great success against Oklahoma Christian, going a perfect 5-0 since beginning the series back in 2013.

In last season’s match in Portales, the Hounds scored the game-winner in the 84th minute to come away with the 3-2 victory. The last time the two teams played in Oklahoma City came on Sept. 15, 2016 as Eastern pulled out a 1-nil win.

CLIMBING TO THE TOP
After picking up a win and a draw last week, Eastern has climbed into a tie for first with Lubbock Christian at the top of the HC West Division with 2-0-2 record in pod play. While the Hounds only have two West Division matches left, they will have a fantastic chance with the matches being at home in a couple of weeks against Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M.

POINTS FOR PERES
Coming off his strongest week as a member of the Greyhounds team, Peres scored a total of six points on two goals and two assists last week, taking the team-lead with 14 total points, just one point ahead of Arthur-Dede.

SHOTS FIRED
In the UTPB match last week, the Hounds put 12 shots on-goal. ENMU had not placed that many shots on net since placing 13 on-net in a 2-0 win over Southern Nazarene back on Oct. 3, 2016. In that match, Arthur-Dede became just the fifth Greyhound in the last four seasons to score multiple goals in a match.