Men’s soccer squares off with Xavier on Thursday, LSUA in RRAC Game of the Week on Saturday

You don't have to tell the Texas A&M University-Victoria men's soccer team how important this week is.

The Jaguars (7-5-1, 3-2-1) are in a tie for fourth place with Texas A&M-Texarkana in the Red River Athletic Conference standings on 10 points, eight behind the leaders at LSU Shreveport. But they're also just three points safely ahead of Louisiana Christian for a playoff spot.

Now, A&M-Victoria will be tested with home matches against third-place and nationally No. 20-ranked Xavier (La.) on Thursday and second-place LSU Alexandria on Saturday.

Saturday's tilt with the Generals is the RRAC Game of the Week.

"We gave the team goals and their approach is to just take it one game at a time," said head coach Vince Martinez. "As coaches, that's very important because we can't look past our tough opponent, Xavier, on Thursday. That's just the way it is. We're looking at each game with somewhat of a playoff mentality. Out of our last five matches, we're going to have to get some results to get into the playoffs and get a better seed."

The Jaguars' offense came alive last week with eight goals across the two games against Texas College, a 4-0 win, and Southwest, a 4-1 win.

A&M-Victoria peppered 58 shots between the two matches with a season-high 39 against Texas College.

Jervan Matthew added three goals to his season tally to lead the way for the Jaguars with eight goals and 19 points this season. Baillie O'Reilly added a goal and two assists last week and is up to five goals and a team-leading seven assists.

That attacking duo will be instrumental if the Jaguars want to pick up results this week.

"We're going to rely on them tremendously," Martinez said. "Bailey's probably one of the fastest guys in the conference. Put him on the wing and he's going to make things happen. Jervan, you're talking about a midfielder playing as a converted center striker. He's done a fantastic job for us in that position. He's got good size and strength, and he can finish. He's got some great qualities to play that position."

This week will be a test on both ends of the field for A&M-Victoria with Xavier ranking second offensively in the RRAC with 2.9 goals per game and first defensively in the conference with a 0.60 goals allowed average. LSUA leads the conference offensively (3.25 GPG) and is second defensively (0.84 GAA).

But the recent performances of the Jaguars' starting back line of Jacob Anderson, Jack Dibble, Mosiah Bonney and Andre Gomez, and senior goalkeeper give Martinez confidence up against two of the best offensive teams in the conference.

Kaeppeli also became the program's all-time shutout leader with 20 after the clean sheet against Texas College.

"Throughout the course of the season, we've made some changes to make things better," Martinez said. "But one thing that's been consistent is the back line. They've been the backbone of the team. They understand each other and what we're trying to get out of them."

Saturday's game is also the team's annual Pink Out Game. DeTar Healthcare Center has provided limited breast cancer awareness-themed giveaway items for fans in attendance.