EUNICE, La. – A trip to this month's NJCAA Division I National Tournament will be at stake in Eunice as LSUE entertains three other teams in this weekend's Gulf South District Playoff at the Bengal Soccer Complex.  The single-elimination draw begins on Friday, November 8.
 
The Region 23 champions LSU Eunice will face off with Region 14 runner-up Northeast Texas CC in the first semifinal on Friday at 2:30PM.  Region 14 champion Tyler JC takes on Region 23 runner-up Jones College in the nightcap at 5:30PM.
 
The winner of the semifinal contests will meet Saturday, November 9 at 5:30PM in the championship game.
 
"All of our hard work in the offseason and the last few months was to be in this type of situation – playing in big time games at home against great competition," LSU Eunice men's soccer head coach Josh McReynolds said.  "The three teams coming here all have talented squads with a great postseason history so we will have our work cut out for ourselves."
 
LSU Eunice enters the Gulf South Playoffs with a 15-1 record, No. 5 ranking in the most recent NJCAA polls and a 12-game win streak.  The Bengals earned the right to host after a 4-0 win over Jones College in last Friday's Region 23 Championship.
 
Noah Wagner (Corpus Christi, TX, Veterans Memorial HS) paces the LSUE offense with 25 goals and 2 assists on the season.  His goal mark ranks second in the nation in NJCAA Division I.  Zaykeese Smith (Charlestown, St. Kitts & Nevis, Charlestown Secondary School) figures to get the start in net, currently 8-0 on the season with a sterling 0.80 goals against average.
 
The Bengals will face off against a stingy Northeast Texas squad sporting a 16-4 record.  The Eagles are fresh off a 3-0 win over Laredo CC in the Region 14 semifinals and have won 10 of their last 11 games.
 
NTCC is led offensively by Ronaldo Brown, tallying 14 goals and two assists this season.  The well rounded Eagles attack boasts eight players with at last double digit points on the season.  Jeremy Coste leads NTCC in net with a 12-3 record and 0.77 goals against average.
 
In what could be a defensive battle, LSUE and Northeast Texas have combined for 19 shutouts this season.
 
Tyler JC clinched its 11th straight Region 14 championship after a 3-1 win over Angelina this past weekend.  The Apaches are also in search of the program's 11th straight berth to the National Tournament, winning six National Championships in that time span.
 
The Apaches enter the weekend with a 16-4 record and ranked 6th in the most recent NJCAA polls.  TJC's offensive attack is spearheaded by the duo of Karsimi Konneh and Thaabit Baartman, tallying 25 and 22 points respectively.
 
Jones comes into the weekend with a record of 12-5-1.  The Bobcats have won nine of their last 10 games and are led offensively by freshman forward Chris Dempsey (16 goals and 6 assists).
 
Both of these matchups are rematches of last year's District Playoffs with the district receiving a pair of bids at the time to the National Tournament.  LSUE was upended at home by Northeast Texas, 3-1, while Tyler JC cruised past Jones 3-0.
 
All three contests will be live streamed on Bengals All-Access.