KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – The University of the Incarnate Word men's soccer team will look to get back on the winning track as they travel to the University of Missouri Kansas City for a Western Athletic Conference matchup Thursday at 7 p.m. and then the team continues on to Air Force Academy for a 2 p.m. Sunday start.
The Cardinals (5-3, 1-1) opened conference with a 3-2 win over CSU Bakersfield and then lost a tough battle against San Jose State, 2-1 last Sunday. They have outscored their opponents 20-9 on the season and have benefitted from great senior leadership. They dropped one spot in the NSCAA West Region Rankings from ninth to 10
th this week. It is the third straight week they are in the poll.
One of those seniors,
Noah Keats (Exeter, Eng/The King's School), leads the team with eight goals, which is tied for first in the WAC. He is ranked first in the conference with18 points.
Dylan Kelly (Tucson, AZ/Salpointe Catholic HS) and
Ben Conway (Wigan, Eng./Hawkley Hall) have helped create chances up front all season long. Kelly leads the conference with six assists while Conway has scored three times this year. UIW has taken 109 shots with 54 of them on goal. They currently sit in sixth place in the WAC behind three teams that opened the season 2-0 in the conference
The backline for the Cardinals—
Jonathan Camarena (El Paso/Del Valle HS),
Alex Hoyl (Dallas/Highland Park HS),
Joe Brown (Notthingham, Eng/The Beckett School) and
Alfredo Zendejas (El Paso/Vista Grande HS)—has done a great job and will try to shut down two of the lower scoring teams in the conference this week.
The Roos (2-6-1, 0-2) are averaging one goal per game and have not won a game at home where they are 0-2-1. They are on a current five-game losing streak, including WAC losses to Seattle and Utah Valley. Pandelis Popgeorgiev leads the team in goals and points with three and six, respectively.
The Falcons (3-6, 0-2) are also averaging one goal per game and lost to Utah Valley and Seattle last week. They have played four overtime games this season and all four have been decided before the final buzzer. They are 1-0 at home heading into the week. Tucker Axhoj leads the team with three goals and an assist. John Wendt started the first eight games of the season in goal, but Rob Blair was given the start in their last time out.
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