SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word men's soccer team has title hopes heading into this weekend when they host Western Athletic Conference rivals Air Force Academy and University of Missouri-Kansas City.  The Cardinals play Friday at 7 p.m. against Air Force and Sunday at 1 p.m. against UMKC at Benson Stadium.

The Cardinals (6-8-1, 5-2-1) head into the final weekend of WAC regular season play tied for second place with a chance to be regular season champions in their first year in the conference.  UNLV is currently in first place at 6-2-1, but if the Cardinals can win each of their two games this weekend they will finish in first place, either outright or in a tie.

The Cardinals have outscored WAC opponents, 14-9 this year.  Dylan Kelly (Tucson, AZ/Salpointe Catholic HS) and Alex de la Garza (Mission/Sharyland HS) are the top two scorers on the team.  Kelly has five goals and three assists while de la Garza has four goals and a team-high five assists.  Ben Conway (Wigan, Eng./Hawkley Hall) has chipped in with five goals and an assist.  Joe Brown (Nottingham, Eng./The Becket School) headlines a defense that has a 1.37 goals against average.  Kieran O'Boyle (Blackpool, Eng./St. Mary's Catholic) is the man between the pipes for UIW and he sports a 1.40 GAA with 54 saves on the season.

Air Force enters the weekend with a 6-6-4 record, but only a 2-5-1 mark in the conference.  They started the season well, but are 0-1-4 in their last five games.  Zach Hill leads the team with four goals while Gus Jensen has three goals and two assists.  Jake Schenk is the main goalkeeper with 75 saves and a 0.89 GAA in over 1400 minutes.

UMKC is 6-8-2 overall with a 4-3-1 record in the WAC.  Their season has been the opposite of Air Force's as they started slowly, but have now won their last four matches.  Nick Cramer is the leading scorer with four goals and an assist while Wes White has chipped in with two goals and four assists.  Chris McGaughey has played every minute of the season in goal.  He has 68 saves and a 1.28 GAA.

On Sunday, the Cardinals will be honoring three seniors who will be playing their final home game; Alex de la Garza, Victor Pinal (Dallas/Skyline HS) and Chijioke Akujuobi (Houston/Langham Creek HS).
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