New equestrian head coach Haley Schoolfield had her opening debut spoiled when the Mustangs fell in both matches on their road trip to the SEC against Auburn and Georgia this past weekend.

In their first match of the season on Sept. 18, SMU actually out-scored Auburn in raw points for the two events but still lost in the end, 7-4. The Mustangs stole the first event, Equitation On the Flat, from the Tigers, 3-2. Senior Maia Van Dyke won MVP honors for her performance, scoring an 86.

However, SMU fell flat in the second event, Equitation Over Fences, managing to only win once, while Auburn took five to win the match.

The score from Equitation Over Fences though, tells a different story from the lopsided defeat. In the fences, the Mustangs lost by a scant 19 points, 457-438.

The weekend didn’t get any easier for the Mustangs, as the team traveled to Georgia next to take on the defending national champions. Last year, SMU managed to hold their own against Georgia, splitting their two matches with the home team defending their home turf.

That trend continued this year, as SMU was unable to defeat the Bulldogs on their home turf, losing 9-3.

Georgia took both events, but the Mustangs kept it close in the first event losing 4-2, but only by a raw score of 34 points. Sophomore Mallory Olson, the MVP for the Mustangs, defeated her opponent by 11 points while junior Kate Wilson was the other Mustang to defeat her opponent in the event.

SMU was unable to mount a comeback in the next event and was crushed by Georgia, 5-1, in Equitation Over Fences. Senior Kristen Collins was the only Mustang to claim a victory in the event, winning by six points. SMU lost by a total raw score of 871-796.

SMU will look to claim their first victory in their next match against Oklahoma State University on Oct. 3, when they travel to Stillwater, Okla.