SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word men's soccer team is on the road for its last two games of the season this weekend, which are also arguably the toughest games of the year. They take on the best two teams in the Western Athletic Conference, Utah Valley on Thursday at 8 p.m., and Seattle on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Cardinals (8-6, 4-4) hold a current two game winning streak in the WAC as they beat Houston Baptist, 3-1 and UTRGV, 1-0 last week at home.  Their 12 points in conference puts them fourth behind Seattle, Utah Valley and UNLV.  Two wins could potentially put them in second place depending on other scores, but they will not be eligible for the conference tournament since they are still in transition to Division I.

Noah Keats (Exeter, Eng./The King's School) leads the team in goals and points, with nine and 22, respectively, which also ranks second in the entire WAC.  O'Neal Moore (Houston/Alief Taylor HS) and Ben Conway (Wigan, Eng,/Hawkley Hall) follow Keats with five goals apiece, while Dylan Kelly (Tucson, AZ/Salpointe Catholic HS) has four goals to his count.  Kelly also leads the team and ranks second in the conference in with seven assists on the year.  He is second on the team with 15 points.

While the offense has performed very well on the year with 29 goals, 2.07 per game, the defense has been a big part of the Cardinals' success this year. The team has outscored their opponents 29-19 and has turned in three shutouts.

Utah Valley (12-4-1, 5-2-1) is coming off a tough 2-1 overtime loss to UNLV last Sunday, but they are still looking for a chance to finish with the top seed in the WAC if they can win their final two games.  The Wolverines are outscoring their opponents 30-15 and average 1.73 goals per game.  Skyler Milne leads the way with seven goals on the year while Paul Hoffmeister and Austin Buxton have five each.  Aaron Meyer leads the team with eight assists and has also added four goals.  Meyer leads the conference in assists.  Goalkeeper, Collin Partee is second in the conference with four shutouts, while backup, Derek Wilcox is tied for third in the WAC with three.  These two have led UVU to rank tied for first in the WAC in shutouts with seven, tied with Seattle.

Seattle (14-3, 7-1) is having a terrific season and is on a current five-game winning streak.  Their last loss was a 3-1 road loss to Houston Baptist on October 9. They are currently first in the WAC and a win should secure the top seed.  They are also ranked #15 in the NSCAA Division I Men's Soccer Poll.  They rank first in the WAC in shots, goals, points, goals allowed and shutouts.  They are outscoring their opponents, 36-13.  David Olsen and Hamza Haddadi lead the way with eight goals apiece.  Michael Roberts is right behind with seven goals and leads the way with five assists and 19 points.  Goalkeeper Shane Haworth has the best goals against average in the league only allowing 0.71 goals per game and his seven shutouts are best in the conference.
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