On Monday, it was announced that the Mavericks would be traveling to Wichita Falls, Texas to take on the 18-0-2 Midwestern State University Mustangs. The Mavericks enter the tournament with a 16-3-1 overall record after falling to Colorado School of Mines in the RMAC Championship on Sunday.
 
This is the fourth year in a row that the Mavericks will be traveling south to take on MSU in the NCAA tournament, with MSU winning the last two meetings in the tournament. Last season the Mustangs walked away with a 1-0 victory over the Mavericks. The game looked to be going to overtime between the two teams, but MSU could score in the 88^th minute to get the lone goal of the match. Despite CMU having more shots on the day (14-8) and shots on goal (7-3) CMU was unable to get one past the Mustang keeper.
 
CMU's last victory against MSU was back in 2014 when the Mavericks won the game 1-0 at Walker Field. Stevie Palma scored an early goal on an assist by now assistant coach Stan Schrock to give the Mavericks all they needed to advance. After that victory, the Mavericks advanced all the way to the semi-finals where they lost to the University of Charleston 2-0. Charleston would go on to lose the next game to Lynn University for the championship.
 
Entering Sunday's matchup, the Mustangs come in ranked No. 3 in the nation. Meanwhile the Mavericks come in ranked 19^th in the nation. MSU comes into the tournament with the second-best win-loss-tied percentage in the nation at 0.941. The Mustangs also have the second highest save percentage in the country at 0.881. As for CMU, they come in with the fourth most corner kicks per game with 7.59.
 
As for the team's leading point getters, the Mavericks are led by Moshe Perez who is tied for 12^th in the nation with 34 points on the season. Perez is also tied for 17^th in the nation with 13 goals on the season. Meanwhile the Mustangs are led by Scott Doney. Doney is also tied for 17^th in the nation with 13 goals, but is 31^st in the nation in total points with 28.
 
In goal for the Mavericks will be Briley Guarneri. He is currently tied for third in the nation with 11 shutouts on the season in his 20 starts. Guarneri is ranked eighth in the nation in goals against average at .584. As for the Mustangs, it will be Taylor Lampe. In the Heartland Conference Championship, Lampe was in net for the Mustangs and allowed only one goal in two games. Lampe finished with three saves in the two games.
 
The winner of the game will advance to the South-Central Region Championship to take on the winner of St. Edwards and Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 16. If the Mavericks were to advance past that round they would go to the quarterfinals on Nov. 18. The final two rounds of the NCAA tournament are being held in Kansas City, Mo.