Men’s soccer welcoming Xavier (La.), North American to The Cage for crucial conference matches

The UHV men's soccer team is gearing up for an important week.

The Jaguars (6-4-2, 4-4-1) are set to host Xavier (La.) on Thursday and North American on Saturday for Senior day.

Heading into the final four matches of the season, UHV (13 pts, 6^th place) is fighting for a Top 4 spot and the right to host a Red River Athletic Conference quarterfinal match. To do that, they'll need to beat both the Gold Rush (8-3-1, 7-2-0; 21 pts., 4^th place) and Stallions (4-7-2, 2-5-2; 8 pts., 10^th place).

UHV is looking to bounce back after a pair of losses to LSU Alexandria and No. 25 Louisiana Christian.

Thursday's match will feature two of the best offenses in the conference with Xavier (2.83 Goals For Average) ranking first and UHV (2.5 GFA) ranking third.

Freshmen Dario Elsen and Mathias Jorstad have set the pace for the Jaguars, scoring five and four goals, respectively, this season. The Jaguars have featured 14 different goalscorers with seven of them scoring multiple times this season.

But the Jaguars will have their work cut out for them against a stingy Xavier defense which has allowed 12 goals in 12 matches.

UHV boasts a 1.25 Goals Allowed Average, which ranks fifth in the conference. Junior goalkeepers Tyler Kaeppeli and Eric Thust rank first and fourth in save percentage with .782 and .727 clips, respectively.

It's the second-ever meeting between UHV and Xavier, with the Jaguars prevailing 2-1 on the road last year thanks to goals from Osiel Robledo and Yahir Pena.

This will be the third meeting between the Jaguars and Stallions with UHV winning 1-0 in 2022 and 4-0 on the road in 2023.

At halftime of Saturday's game, UHV will recognize its seven seniors: Robledo, Matt Sturgeon, Adam Thompson, Carlos Quinones, Klaidas Pudlauskas, Diby Kouassi and Archie Mills.