November 9
7 PM
Lubbock, TX
 
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Scouting the Opponent
 
Lubbock Christian is 8-6-1, 5-2-1 on the season and are the No. 3 seed in the Lone Star Conference playoffs. The Chaps were winners of four straight matches until they lost to the Falcons on Saturday night in Odessa. The Chaps had a chance to lock the No. 2 seed in the conference with a win, but their loss along with a win by West Texas A&M dropped them to third.
 
Offensively the Chaps are led by Tariq Bakkali, Luciano Rodriguez, and Jacopo Ghezzi with 4 goals each while four Chaps are tied with three assists each. Defensively the Chaps are anchored by Braxton Thorne who has allowed 16 goals while saving 30. He has seven shutouts in 13 starts.
 
Series History
 
This is the 17th meeting between the two teams with the Falcons winning four of the five last matches. The Falcons have won three straight against the Chaps and hold a 6-1-1 record in the last eight contests, all of them except the tie decided by a goal.
 
Your Falcons
 
This is the first time the Falcons will be in the playoffs since 2017 and as a member of the Lone Star Conference. The Falcons faced No. 4 seed Texas A&M International where they fell in penalty kicks while a part of the Heartland Conference.
 
The Falcons were powered Saturday night by senior Salvador Vargas Ramos who scored the fifth hat trick in program history.  Ollie Grundy was the hero in the second overtime sending a cross in the box with 56 seconds to go, the ball went off a Chap defender and off the outstretched goalkeeper for the victory.
 
Not only did the Falcons need to win, but they needed a little help from a pair of teams in the conference. St. Mary's needed to defeat Texas A&M International, which they did 1-0.  The Falcons also needed help from UT Tyler against DBU.  DBU went up 2-0 early in the match before UT Tyler came back.  UT Tyler tied the match late in the match and 44 seconds into overtime pulled off the comeback win.
 
On the season, Gustavo Barroso is not only leading the Falcons on offense but is making a splash in the LSC. He is sitting fifth in shots on goal with 22 and he is tied for ninth in goals with five. Salvador Vargas Ramos is tied for ninth in assists with four.
 
After making three saves against LCU, Alfonso Aragon is nine away from being in sole possession of second place in program history for career saves. He is also 23 away from being the all-time saves leader dating back to 2009. Aragon leads not only the team but the LSC in saves with 78 in 16 matches.
 
Looking Ahead
 
With a win the Falcons will travel to Wichita Falls to face No. 2 seed West Texas A&M and extend their season to at least Friday night. Download the UTPB Athletics App to follow your favorite Falcon teams.