PHOENIX, ARIZONA – The University of the Incarnate Word men's soccer team closes out their 2014 campaign on the road for a pair of matches on the campus of Grand Canyon University.  They play Grand Canyon on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and then finish with Omaha on Friday at 7 p.m.

The Cardinals (7-9-1, 6-3-1) finished third in the Western Athletic Conference regular season, but are ineligible for post-season play.  The Lopes and Mavs are each in the same position of not being able to play in the post-season this year.

UIW has outscored their opponents, 25-23 for the season and have four players with at least five goals.  Senior midfielder Alex de la Garza (Mission/Sharyland HS) leads the team with 16 points on five goals and six assists, including a pair of game-winning goals.  Junior forward Dylan Kelly (Tucson, AZ/Salpointe Catholic HS) leads the team with six goals and has three assists while sophomore forward Ben Conway (Wigan, Eng./Hawkley Hall) has five goals and three assists.

Joe Brown (Nottingham, Eng./The Becket School) headlines a defense that has four shutouts in 10 conference games.  Andrew Grossman (Arlington/Mansfield Summit HS) has taken on the role of holding midfielder and done well while providing some goal scoring off set pieces.  He has three goals and an assist on the season.  Kieran O'Boyle (Blackpool, Eng./St. Mary's Catholic) is the team's goalkeeper and he has a 1.35 goals against average with 62 saves.

The Cardinals defeated the Lopes (4-11-3) earlier this year, 3-1 in San Antonio.  They have allowed 32 goals while scoring 16 for the year.  Alberto Sanchez Garcia leads the team with seven goals and two assists and scored the lone goal against the Cardinals.  Luca Licciardi and Kendyl Day have split time in goal for the team.

The Mavs (8-5-2) have had a strong season and have won four of their last five matches.  They have outscored their opponents, 20-14 for the season and have registered six shutouts.  Vance Rookwood has seven goals and two assists while Mark Moulton has three goals and eight assists to lead the offense.  Josh Christensen and Joseph Ghitis have split the starting appearances in goal.  Christensen has a 0.54 goals against average and four shutouts.  Last year the Mavs defeated the Cardinals, 2-1 in Omaha.
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