AZUSA, Calif.- The Mavericks season came to a close in the 94^th minute of the South Central Regional Championship match against No. 13 West Texas A&M hosted by Azusa Pacific. The Mavericks and Buffs were scoreless for 90 minutes but the Buffs only needed four minutes in the first overtime to clinch the South Central Regional Championship. The Mavericks end their season 13-4-5 and runner-ups in the South Central Region.

Mavericks Final Match

The Mavericks took six shots throughout the match and four of those were in the second half. Head coach Todd Padgett stated after the game, "We didn't look ourselves in the first half. We were more composed and better in possession during the second half. We had more urgency during the second half."

All this seemed to be true for the Mavericks has they shot five more times in the second hald than they did the first half and limited West Texas A&M to five shots, which was two less than they took in the first half. The Buffs took 13 total shots throughout the match.

The Mavericks attempted one shot in overtime before the Buffs found the back of the net in their only shot in over time during the 94^th minute of action.

Lawan Abary took a team high two shots on goal but they did not come easy has he attracted multiple defenders each touch he owned. Padgett mentioned, "More often than not Lawan didn't just have one defender he had two or three. Very rarely did he just have one. West Texas A&M made it very difficult."

The Buffs were well aware of Abary's abilities and his 14 goals on the season.

The Mavericks defense and senior goalkeeper Briley Guarneri played their usual impressive roles in this match. The defense was up against 13 total shots and four shots on goal but Guarneri added three saves of his own. Two of his saves occurred in the first half.

After his final match as a Maverick he mentioned, "West Texas came out strong and forced defense to work, but as a goalkeeper I like that. It is good early on to get myself and the backline involved. It gives us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the match."

The Gilbert, Ariz. native will be graduating this year but he believes in the future of this program. "I'm extremely excited to see what they can accomplish in the future. This was a great experience for the younger players and it gives them a taste of the national tournament."

In his reflection of his time as a Maverick he said with a smile, "I'm extremely proud to have been a Maverick for the past four years. This is a group of guys that genuinely cared for each other and no one can take that away from us."