Nov. 4, 2005

The West Texas A&M University Lady Buff soccer team will face Midwestern State University in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 4 at Noon at Edmond, Okla., hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma. The Lady Buffs are the No. 2 seed and had a first-round bye, while the third-seeded Indians got past sixth-seed Angelo State University on a penalty kick tiebreaker. The teams were tied 2-2 after regulation and played a pair of 10-minute overtime periods before MSU finally prevailed, 5-4, after seven rounds of penalty kicks.

If the Lady Buffs win on Friday they would move on to the championship game which will take place on Sunday at 1 p.m. Top-seed Central Oklahoma faces fifth-seeded Texas Woman's University, who also had a penalty kick tiebreaker to knock off defending champion and No. 4 seed Texas A&M University-Commerce on Thursday. Again, the teams were tied 2-2 after regulation and failed to score in two overtime periods, with the Pioneers eventually winning 5-4 after six rounds of penalty kicks.

The Lady Buffs are 10-5-1 overall on the year after going 1-1 this last weekend in the metroplex with a 3-1 win Friday against Texas Woman's and then a 2-0 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday. On Friday, the Lady Buffs got a second half surge after being down 1-0 at half, netting all three goals in the second half. WTAMU got goals from three different players in the second half, as senior Misti Northcutt, junior Whitney McClain, and freshmen Elisabeth Markussen found the net. Sunday's match against Texas A&M-Commerce was a different story as the Lady Buffs had a hard time getting anything started. The Lady Buffs gave up two first half goals and were never able to recover.

Leading WTAMU into the conference tournement will be senior midfielder Katie Henley who has five goals on the season and has stepped in with the absence of Sarit Shenar. Also helping out on the offensive side will be freshmen midfielder Elisabeth Markussen who has four goals on the season and two assists. Leading the defense into this weekend's conference tournament is sophomore goalie Sarah Anderson who 65 saves on the season and a 1.16 goals against average.

MSU brings an 8-8-2 mark into Friday's semifinal match. Lauren Sierra and Magahn Holmes scored for MSU in Thursday's quarterfinal. The Indians will be without head coach Jeff Trimble, who received a red card in Thursday's match, just five minutes into the second half.

The Lady Buffs beat MSU, 1-0, in the regular-season meeting back on Oct. 7 at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.

WTAMU has slipped to No. 7 in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Rankings, which determine the Regional Tournament field, taking the top four to the Regional Tournament, hosted by the top seed. TAMU-Commerce was ranked No. 6 in the Region, while Central Oklahoma is No. 3. Championship selections will take place Monday, Nov. 7.

-WT-