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NWOSU at SWOSU Friday, November 1, 3 pm Live Stats

SWOSU at Midwestern State Sunday, November 3, 3 pm Live Stats

Weekly Notes (pdf)
 
Setting the Scene
      SWOSU soccer enters the final week of the regular season controlling their own fate as they attempt to secure a second consecutive Great American Conference championship. A loss to Harding last Friday prevented the Bulldogs from wrapping up the conference title and snapped a streak of 16 straight conference matches without a loss, but SWOSU rebounded to defeat Ouachita Baptist 1-0 on Sunday to reclaim control of the conference race.
      The first opponent this weekend is Northwestern Oklahoma State who makes the trip to Weatherford for Senior Day. The Bulldogs have won three straight against the Rangers and if that streak is run to four games, SWOSU will again be crowned GAC Champions. Depending on how the standings shake out for the other teams in the conference, SWOSU and East Central may or may not have to make up their postponed match from September 29 on Tuesday, November 5.
      Regardless, SWOSU will play one final non-conference match on Sunday when the Bulldogs pay a visit to former Lone Star Conference foe Midwestern State. Prior to last season, SWOSU was winless all-time against the Mustangs, but a 2-0 win in Edmond gave the Bulldogs their first win in 14 tries against MSU.

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The Coaches
      Mark Persson is in his fifth season at SWOSU in 2013. He has orchestrated an amazing turnaround and he holds a 50-35-8 record leading the Lady Bulldogs, becoming the program's all-time winningest coach during the 2012 season. Persson has twice been recognized as a conference coach of the year, most recently claiming the GAC's honor in 2012.
      Kasey Mahaffey is in her second year as head women's soccer coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State after three years as an assistant at East Central University. She has a record of 1-32-2 as the head coach of the Rangers.
      Jeff Trimble enters his 16th season at the helm of the Midwestern State women's soccer program. The Mustangs made great steps over in recent seasons claiming a regular season Lone Star Conference championship while qualifying for their first NCAA Division II playoff appearance in 2010. Trimble is 192-100-26 while leading the Mustangs.
 
About the Opponents
      Northwestern State is winless in Great American Conference action this season with one win on the season coming against Newman. The Rangers have scored more than one goal in a GAC contest just once this season and they've been shut out five times in nine conference matches.
      Midwestern State enters the weekend 11-4-1 overall and in second place in the Lone Star Conference with a 6-2-1 conference mark. The Mustangs were also ranked sixth in the South Central Region in the intial NCAA Region rankings. MSU has faced one GAC opponent this season, defeating East Central 3-2 earlier this season in Wichita Falls.
 
Standings Check
      At 6-1-1, SWOSU is out in front of the Great American Conference with every other team being saddled with at least three losses. Three teams - Southern Nazarene, Ouachita Baptist and East Central - all have three losses while Harding is currently fifth at 4-4.
      With a victory over NWOSU on Friday, SWOSU will clinch their second consecutive GAC Championship and the right to host the conference tournament. The field for the conference tournament will consist of SWOSU, OBU, ECU and Harding since SNU and NWOSU are not yet eligible for postseason play.
 
Balezentis Becomes 6th POW
      After scoring perhaps the defining goal of the Great American Conference season, Southwestern Oklahoma State University sophomore forward Miranda Balezentis has been named the GAC Offensive Player of the Week. The conference office announced their weekly awards on Tuesday.
      In a matchup of the top two teams in the conference, Balezentis scored the deciding goal with just over one minute to play, allowing SWOSU to earn a 1-0 victory over Ouachita Baptist. A loss in that match would have tied the Bulldogs and Tigers in the conference standings and given OBU the tiebreaker.
      The goal scored by Balezentis was her team-leading sixth of the season, a mark that also ranks her second in the Great American Conference. She has scored six goals despite attempting just 16 shots in her sophomore year.
      A native of Tulsa, Balezentis becomes the sixth SWOSU player to earn a weekly conference award this season. She joins Samantha Nunez and Alexis Russell as players to earn the offensive honor, Kira Bertrand and Natalie Crosslin as defenders and Courtney Flores, a three-time goalkeeper of the week.
 
Down to Ninth
      SWOSU fell to No. 9 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings following a setback against Harding on Friday. The Bulldogs need to move into the top six of the rankings in order to secure a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Northeastern State and Southwest Baptist both jumped the Bulldogs this week.