The West Texas A&M men's soccer team came out firing on all cylinders en route to a school-record 13-2 win at University of Texas Permian Basin Saturday afternoon. WT head coach Butch Lauffer won his 500th career game and the Buffs tallied a school-record two hat tricks in the contest.
The Buffs got things off on the right foot just 1:44 into the contest as junior Julio Vargas scored his first goal of the game as he cleaned up the loose ball in front of the net. Just over one minute later, Vargas found the back of the net again as he had a breakaway down the left side to the right post for a 2-0 lead just 2:52 into the match.
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Freshman Stefan Andjelic tallied his third goal of the season at the 24:53 mark with an assist from senior Evan Bozman for a 3-0 lead on a loose ball off a deflection. Later in the half, WT added its fourth goal as junior Mirza Dizdarevic scored off an assist from junior Callum Challinor for a 4-0 lead at the 34:24 mark.
And then, the rout was on in the second half as Challinor scored on a shot off the crossbar, at the 47:43 mark for a 5-0 lead.
UTPB got on the board with a penalty kick goal at the 48:35 mark as Brandon Lee scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
MEN'S COLLEGE SOCCER: Final Score - West Texas A&M 13, UTPB 2. Dominant win for the Buffs to say the least pic.twitter.com/sAWd4vWUfg
â Eric Blum (@EricBlumOA) September 30, 2017
Challinor scored his second goal of the game and second assist from Bozman for a 6-1 lead at the 51:49 mark for a 6-1 lead. With WT leading 7-1, Vargas scored his third goal of the match for a hat trick and senior Rafael Vasconcellos added the final two goals of the game for a hat trick, too.
For the game, WT had 24 shots with 18 on goal and seven assists. WT had just one corner kick in the game, while UTPB had 10 shots with six on goal and seven corner kicks.
Graduate goalkeeper Casey Tilly saw his first action of the season, playing 22 minutes after freshman Alexander Vencel played 68 with four saves and one goal allowed.
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Vargas and Vasconcellos each had three goals and five shots as it marked the first time WT had two players in the same game with a hat trick. The Buffs' last hat trick came on Sept. 13, 2013, by George Beasley versus McMurry.
The 13 goals tied for third-most team goals scored in a match in Heartland Conference history and was the most goals scored in a match in league history between conference teams. In addition, the 13 goals marked the most in school history, as the previous best was 12 against the University of the Southwest on Sept. 2, 2011.
@BuffsMensSoccer Head Coach Butch Lauffer picks up his 500th Career Victory in a 13-2 win over UTPB this afternoon in Odessa #BuffNation pic.twitter.com/drW3cPYCcC
â WTAMU Athletics (@wtathletics) September 30, 2017
The two hat tricks by the Buffs are the first two of the season in the Heartland Conference this year.
Lauffer improved to 310-143-33 as the men's coach and 500-210-50 overall as he also coached the Lady Buffs for 14 seasons from 1996 to 2009.
The Buffs continue on the road next week as they travel to Rogers State and Newman next weekend.
