Women's soccer play final game of regular season

Women's Soccer

A&M-Commerce women's soccer is in their final weekend of the regular season starting tonight, when they take on top-of-the-table Abilene Christian University at the A&M-Commerce Soccer Field at 7:00 p.m.

The Lions currently sit in the sixth and final tournament spot in the Lone Star Conference table, with a 3-3-3 conference record and 12 points. West Texas A&M, Southwestern Oklahoma and Northeastern State are all within a win of overtaking A&M-Commerce.

The Wildcats are on an eight-game winning streak, having not lost a single match in the month of October. Freshman Andrea Carpenter leads the team with 15 goals, and she is followed closely by junior Ashley Holton, who has 13 goals on the season. ACU is averaging 2.8 goals per game and 15.7 shots per game, and they clearly pose a significant threat to the Lions' backline.

That Lions defensive unit is usually led by senior Megan Monroe, but reports out of the women's soccer camp suggest she will be moved up to midfield for the ACU match. In addition, junior right defender Evan Stanberry will reportedly be moved up top, and all of these moves are thought to be an attempt to increase the ability of the Lions to capitalize on goal opportunities.

The last game of the season for A&M-Commerce comes on Sunday at noon against second-placed Midwestern. Both ACU and Midwestern have the same conference and season record, and both will be looking to win to secure the rights to hosting the LSC tournament next week.

Football

The Lions football team goes into their 2:00 p.m. game against the University of Central Oklahoma on Saturday with the knowledge that they are at the bottom of the LSC-North Division.

The Lions have a 2-6 (1-3) record, the exact same as the Bronchos, and a victory could make the 24-10 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma last Sunday irrelevant, as the Bulldogs are playing a tough A&M-Kingsville team.

A&M-Commerce goes into this game with a slight question mark over starting running back Marcus Graham. The junior was limited in his play last weekend due to an ankle knock picked up early on. This means sophomore London Hamilton, who had the team high 18 carries for 62 yards in the last game, might see the majority of the action again. Junior Jamar Mosley could also see increased playing time.

Head Coach Guy Morriss has singled out Bronchos running back Josh Birmingham, who averages 125.1 yards per game this season and has 14 touch downs. UCO quarterback Ethan Sharp is completing 58.9 percent of his passes and has thrown 19 touchdowns this season.

Volleyball

Head Coach Craig Case and the Lions volleyball team go into their final road game of the season tomorrow against Southeastern Oklahoma State at 2:00 p.m.

A&M-Commerce has won four of its last six games and sits 12^th in the LSC table with a 3-8 conference record with four games remaining. Depending on other results, a 7-8 record might be enough to get one of the last tournament spots.

The Lions lost last night to East Central 3-0.  Senior Naomi Mays led the way with 10 kills, and senior Rachael Shelton had 23 assists in the absence of usual assist leader freshman Jordan Neal due to an injury she picked up in an earlier match this week against Arkansas-Monticello.

After this weekend comes a non-conference match at home against Texas A&M-International on Nov. 3 at 7:00 p.m. before playing their last two matches of the season at home against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Nov. 4 and Incarnate Word on Nov. 6.