SAN ANGELO – The Belles enter the final days of the regular season with a tough match against Midwestern State as they look to clinch a first-round home match in next week's LSC Tournament, having already clinched a spot in the tournament.
The Belles dropped their first match of this week, losing 2-1 to St. Edward's on the road in overtime.
The Belles are fifth in the LSC standings on 23 points and a 12-3-2 overall record. They need a win over Midwestern State on Saturday as well as points dropped by either West Texas A&M or Texas Woman's to climb back into the top four and host a quarterfinal matchup, which would take place on Tuesday, November 9
th.
The Belles are also sixth in the second edition of the South Central regional rankings which came out earlier this week.
The Belles enter the final week boasting the league's best defense, having only allowed 12 goals this season. Goalkeeper
Kira Miller has a conference-best nine shutouts on the season, as well as a .685 goals against average.
Avery McNeme continues to lead the conference with nine assists on the season in addition to scoring seven times, most recently scoring against the Hilltoppers on Wednesday.
Saturday's match against Midwestern State will also see the Belles honor their nine seniors, who have a 59-19-7 dating back to 2017, including three LSC Championships as well as a pair of trips to the NCAA South Central Regional.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Midwestern State is 11-3-3 overall and 8-1-3 in conference play. They are currently on 27 points, second in the LSC standings and have already clinched a first-round home match next Tuesday.
The Mustangs, who were seventh in this week's regional rankings, are on a five-match winning streak with all five matches being decided by only a single goal.
The Belles are 12-4-2 against the Mustangs under head coach
Travis McCorkle, which includes a current five-match winning streak for the Belles; this will mark the first time these two teams have met since the 2019 season.
The Mustangs have three players with five or more goals this season – Cassidy Savoy and Kelly Cannistra lead the team with six goals while Randi Heaton has five goals this season.
Following this weekend will be the first round of the LSC Championship Tournament, which will start on Tuesday.
