CANYON, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — The West Texas A&M Buffalos will kick off their 2023 campaign in San Antonio on Saturday as they take on the St. Mary’s Rattlers.

The team is looking to bounce back from the heartbreaking loss that put an end to their season almost a year ago.

The WT Buffs finished last season with six wins, four losses, and nine ties. They also finished with a record of 4-1-4 in the LSC which was enough to grab them third place in the Lone Star Conference with 16 total points.

“As a coaching staff, we’re real happy with the progression the group has made…” said WT Men’s Soccer Head Coach Butch Lauffer, “We’ve just been busy, kinda formulating where we think all the players should go in terms of their best spot on our team, I think we’re getting closer.”

The Buffs played an exhibition match on Saturday, Aug. 26, and Lauffer said that he was pleased with the goal-scoring opportunities they created despite the tie.

“Last Saturday was a little disappointing that we came out of there with a tie, however, we’re very happy with the real goal-scoring chances that we created…” said Lauffer, “The goals we gave up I mean were two penalties and a free kick, so that’s pretty crazy a little bit, we really didn’t get broken down too bad during the course of play so that’s positive.”

Players have also said the team is very excited to get out on the field and prove themselves and the talent the roster holds.

“We have like a lot of fast players and a lot of good defenders, we can keep the ball, we can attack, we can do a lot of good things,” said WT soccer player Elhadj Diaoune, “We just need to get together and play as a team.”

For a link to the WT men’s soccer schedule, click here.

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