SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State soccer team hosts Midwestern State at 3 p.m. on Friday at the ASU Soccer Field with the contest offering championship implications for both teams in the final game of the regular season.

The Rambelles (11-3-2, 7-1-1 LSC) have secured at least a share of the LSC title and would win the program's first outright title and host the conference's tournament with a win or a tie against MSU (11-4-1, 6-2-1 LSC). The Mustangs need to beat ASU by two goals or more to earn the right to host the LSC Soccer Championships.

Angelo State won the first meeting between the two teams this season 1-0 with Sierra Anderson scoring the game-winner in the opening game of the LSC schedule on Sept. 26. The Rambelles are 10-1-1 in their previous 12 games and are 6-2 at home this season. ASU is coming of a scoreless draw last Friday against Eastern New Mexico and a 1-0 win over West Texas A&M last Sunday. MSU is on a three-game winning streak where it recorded shutouts in wins over Texas Woman's, WT and ENMU.

The game is also Senior Day for Jordan Benfield, Dani Edwards, Kara Edwards, Trisha Killen, Katie Squires and Maggie Schaffer. The six seniors will be honored before the game.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The second regional rankings of the season where released on Wednesday and have the Rambelles in the fifth spot of the NCAA Division II South Central standings. Colorado School of Mines (15-0-1) is atop the regional ranking with Fort Lewis (13-3-0) second, St. Edward's (11-0-2) third and Metro State (11-2-3) fourth . ASU is the top LSC team in the rankings with Texas A&M-Commerce ranked sixth and Midwestern State seventh. Six teams advance to the regional tournament with LSC, Heartland and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament champions receiving automatic bids and then three at-large bids.  

RAMBELLE PLAYER SUMMARY
Dani Edwards comes into the final game of the regular season with seven shutouts this season and 16 in her career. Edwards, who is the reigning LSC Goalkeeper of the Year and a two-time LSC Defensive Player of the Week this season, leads the conference with a 0.426 goals against average and with a .880 saves percentage. She ranks 15th in the nation in goals against and 16th with her saves percentage. The senior goalkeeper has recorded 44 saves in her second full season in goal for ASU. Edwards, who has allowed only four goals in nine conference games, had six saves in the shutout win over the Mustangs earlier this season in Wichita Falls.

Edwards has been supported by the top defensive unit in the LSC this season which includes Caitlyn Conaway, Jordan Benfield, Lauren Perry, Brittany Martinez and Trisha Killen. ASU's defense has allowed only 33 shots on goal in nine conference games and only five goals.

Sierra Anderson leads Angelo State with seven goals and is tied with MSU's Ashley Cottrell and A&M-Commerce's Savannah Henderson for the most goals in the conference. Anderson did not score a goal last weekend, but has scored in seven of the last 11 contests. The sophomore, who is from Wichita Falls, also has one assist this season and has 10 goals in her career after scoring three last season as a freshman. Anderson has scored five of her goals in conference play.

Jenny Kotowych is second on the team with five goals and had the assist on Kathleen Keoughan's game-winning goal last Sunday against West Texas A&M. Kotowych has scored all five of her goals in two games this season with a two-goal performance against Wayland Baptist in the first weekend of the season and then recording three goals two weeks ago in a 4-1 win over Texas Woman's. Selena Alvarez is third on the team with four goals this season, including two headers, while Keoughan has three goals and senior Maggie Schaffer two goals. Schaffer has 12 goals in her career coming into Friday's game.

Brianne Brown leads the Rambelles with three assists this season and is seventh in the conference in that statistic. Brown, who is playing in her first season at ASU after redshirting last year following a transfer from Northwest Oklahoma State, scored a goal earlier this season against Colorado Mesa and had two assists in the win over TWU and another against ENMU at home. Kelli Regan and Conaway are second on the team with two assists each with Conaway having two assists against Oklahoma Christian and Regan providing assists against New Mexico Highlands and Colorado Mesa.

Regan, Cynthia Andrews and Martinez account for the other goals with Squires, Haley Mendel and Chloe Contreras providing assists.
 

COACH QUOTES

Head coach Travis McCorkle (61-42-16 record in 6th season at ASU, 101 overall career wins)

On playing against Midwestern State on Friday:
"They have a lot of depth on their roster and are a very good passing team. They play the game the way it should be played and I have a lot of respect for what they do in their program every season. It's going to be a tough game for both teams."

On ASU's Sierra Anderson and MSU's Ashley Cottrell both leading the conference with seven goals coming into the game:
"I think both teams are aware of the other team's leading goal scorers and will put focus on them. It will be big moments for both of them to make a difference in a big game. Hopefully for us, that's Sierra. In games like this other players have to step up."

On the mindset of the Angelo State soccer team coming into the game:
"We are at home, it's Senior Day and it's an important game. There are a lot of reasons to make it special for us. We have the chance to win the conference title outright and there are implications for regional rankings. We're aware of all those things. We preach to our players to not be overly emotional on the positive or negative. Our players are even-keeled, but also excited about the opportunity to play this game. It's a meaningful game at the end of the year."
 

MIDWESTERN STATE MUSTANGS (11-4-1, 6-2-1 LSC)
Midwestern State has 11 players who have scored goals this season and have outscored its opponents 23-12. MSU has been dominant in the second half with a 15-7 advantage in the final 45 minutes of regulation. The Mustangs are 7-1-1 since falling to the Rambelles in the first meeting between the two teams. Their only loss in that time came in a 0-1 defeat at home to Texas A&M-Commerce. MSU is 6-1 this season away from Wichita Falls.

Cottrell leads the Mustangs offensively this season with 16 points coming off seven goals and two assists in her sophomore season out of Mansfield Summit. The 5-9 forward was last season's LSC Freshman of the Year and earned first-team honors after a seven-goal season for the Mustangs.

Kallie Essary has recorded seven shutouts and 65 saves in her senior season. The Carrollton native has a 0.62 goals against average in just over 1,451 minutes this season. Her .867 saves percentage ranks second in the conference behind only Edwards.

Tatyanny Griffiths, a senior midfielder, is second on the team with three goals and has added two assists. Emily Saville leads MSU with three assists and has added two goals in her senior season out of North Crowley HS. Kensli Pounds, Katy Catney and Morgan Hannon each have two goals with five other Mustangs scoring a goal this season.

ASU is 7-12-6 all-time against MSU, including going 0-1-1 against them last season. The Mustangs were 6-0-2 in the all-time series over the Rambelles before ASU snapped the losing streak on Oct. 5, 2001. Midwestern State went 7-10-3 overall record last season, including a 6-5-3 record in LSC play.  MSU knocked out Abilene Christian in the first round of the LSC tournament before falling to West Texas A&M in the semifinals. Jeff Trimble is in his 16th season on the MSU sidelines and has led the Mustangs to conference titles in 2011, 2010 and 1998.

UP NEXT: The Rambelles have secured their fourth consecutive trip to the postseason and will play in the Lone Star Conference Soccer Championship next week. ASU would host the four-team tournament for the first time in program history with a win, tie or one-goal loss to Midwestern State on Friday. The tournament would be hosted at MSU in Wichita Falls if the Mustangs beat the Rambelles by two goals or more. The tournament will be played with two semifinal games on Friday, Nov. 8 and then the championship being competed for on Sunday, Nov. 10.