OKLAHOMA CITY (Sept. 30, 2015) – Three weeks ago, if you'd told Oklahoma Christian men's soccer coach David Scott his team would be in the position it finds itself, he'd have struggled to believe it.

But here the Eagles are, ranked sixth with a bullet in NCAA Division II's South Central Region, being mentioned as one of the elite teams in the Heartland Conference and with the chance to perhaps turn heads regionally and nationally Thursday, when OC (6-2) hosts national No. 8 St. Edward's (Texas) at 5 p.m.

The conference opener for both teams has the potential to be one of OC's bigger games in recent memory, probably since the Eagles reached the NAIA tournament in 2006.

As he prepared the Eagles for the 2015 season, Scott knew he had a veteran squad that he felt was built to succeed in Division II, but three players who figured to be major pieces of OC's offense – Cole Rinke, Fraol Legesse and Michael Ojeda – went down with season-ending injuries during the preseason.

Another offensive stalwart, Brandon Little Axe, became ill, and then, in OC's third game, forward Anthony Buchanan – who had scored three goals to that point – went down with a season-ending injury. That reduced OC's number of available field players to 14 and forced Scott and Eagles to have to retool on the fly, changing their identity into a defense-first unit that looked for counterattack opportunities.

The Eagles bought in to the change in philosophy, and ever since, they've been tough to beat.

After dropping a tough 2-1 decision to Mid-America Christian on Sept. 15, OC has reeled off four straight wins, starting with a 1-0 result over Division II power Northeastern State, which returned nine starters off a team which won 16 games and won the 2014 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association title. OC beat the RiverHawks despite playing a man down the entire second half.

Last week, OC won three more times, beating Oklahoma Baptist 4-0, Texas A&M International 1-0 in two overtimes and Sterling (Kan.) 3-1. The Eagles posted three straight shutouts for the first time since 2010 and have won four straight for the first time since 2012. A win Thursday over St. Edward's (5-0-2) would give OC its longest winning streak since 2007.

But the Hilltoppers won't be an easy mark. St. Edward's long has been the Heartland's premier program and was the preseason pick to win the league title. The Hilltoppers have allowed only one goal all season while scoring 25, a total that ranks sixth in Division II. They won 6-0 over Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), a team that beat OC 3-1, and they are ranked second in the South Central Region.

St. Edward's ranks second in Division II in both shutout percentage (0.86) and team goals-against average (0.13), while OC is 16th (0.50) and 31st (0.86), respectively, in those categories. OC goalkeeper Evan Helker is the reigning Heartland defensive player of the week, an award St. Edward's goalkeeper Kevin Leib won earlier this season.

Little Axe is back in the OC lineup after a six-game absence, giving the Eagles another offensive threat to go with leading scorer Ante Susic, and they've received goal production from all over the field, with no fewer than 11 players having scored at least one goal this season.

Scott said that before Tuesday, when the Eagles debuted in the regional rankings, his players had been asking him when that would happen. Now he's telling them they have a platform from which to make a major statement – but they must work hard to take advantage of it, and not be satisfied with where they are at.