After defeating the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 3-1 Thursday at Westcott Field, the SMU women’s soccer team (7-10-1, 5-5-1 Conference USA) earned a postseason berth on Friday when the Marshall Herd lost at East Carolina University.
The Mustangs are headed to the C-USA Championship tournament for the second year in a row, and head coach Brent Erwin is proud of the way the team bounced back from a 2-7 start to the season.
“It’s big,” he said. “I think you can see how a team grows with how they play when their backs are against the wall.”
Needing a win Thursday in order to qualify for the C-USA tournament, SMU scored two first-half goals against Tulsa (7-10-2, 4-7-0) and shut out the Golden Hurricane for over 80 minutes on the way to a 3-1 victory.
Freshman forward Kenzie Scovill put the Mustangs ahead when she knocked in her team-leading sixth goal of the year on a cross from Shelby Hartweck.
SMU went up 2-0 after sophomore forward Logan May scored an unassisted goal in the 32nd minute.
Hartweck, a freshman forward, completed the Mustang scoring in the 67th minute with her fourth goal of the year.
On a roster heavily weighted with underclassmen, freshman scored 14 of the Mustangs’ 22 goals during the regular season.
“It shows that we have good young players on the team,” Erwin said. “I think that the freshmen have done great, but I don’t ever want it to be overlooked what a huge impact our older players have on the team.”
Following the game, the Mustangs honored forward Kim Peabody and midfielder Jennifer Raad as part of SMU Senior Night ceremonies, and Peabody said she is optimistic about the future of the team.
“They’re moving up and they’re getting better,” she said. “They’re a very young team obviously, but I’m excited for them.”
In 75 career games over four years for the Mustangs, Peabody has tallied eight goals and 20 points on 82 shots.
“It’s been my life [the last four years], soccer and school,” she said. “I’m just so proud of the girls. These are all my best friends, so it’s been wonderful.”
Erwin spoke highly of the character and level of commitment Peabody and Raad brought to the SMU soccer program.
“It’s obvious what they did on the field, but it’s the quality they showed off the field as well,” he said.
After making three saves Thursday against Tulsa, sophomore goalkeeper Courtney Webb was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week, the first Mustang player to earn the award this season.
Webb posted a 5-3-1 record with three shutouts and a 0.76 goals-against-average in the month of October.
The first round of the 2009 C-USA Championships begins Wednesday at SMU’s Westcott Field.
In the first game, he University of Texas El Paso Miners (13-6-0, 7-4-0) will take on the University of Alabama Blazers (11-6-2, 5-4-2) at 5 p.m.
The winner will move on to face the top-seeded University of Central Florida (15-3-1, 10-1-0) on Saturday.
SMU will then host the Memphis University Tigers (13-6-0, 8-3-0) at 7:30 p.m., the winner advancing to play Colorado College (12-5-2, 8-2-1) in Saturday’s semifinals.
