The men’s soccer team charged to No. 5 in the NSCAA/adidasNational Poll following a pair of nail-biting victories thisweekend over Saint Louis and Cincinnati.
On Friday night, the Mustangs took on the host-team Billikens tokick off the Saint Louis Nike Classic before 1,193 fans. The twoteams traded momentum and scoring opportunities for all 90 minutesof regulation.
Shots by first-year defender Scott Corbin, senior midfielderJake Jackson, junior midfielder Kellan Zindel and first-yearforward Danny Vazquez were blocked by St. Louis first-yeargoalkeeper Pat Disbennett, who denied a total of five shots on goalin the contest.
On the defensive, senior goalkeeper T.J. Tomasso was perfect,rejecting all 10 of St. Louis’ shots on goal. Sophomore AlexMatteson, first-year Tim Ward and junior Ryan Wileman each took twoshots a piece. For his efforts, Tomasso was voted to theall-tournament team, and on Monday was named the Missouri ValleyConference Defensive Player of the Week.
Failure by both teams to capitalize on numerous offensiveopportunities left the score tied at zero when the final seconds ofregulation diminished.
Though 90 minutes of soccer were not enough to end the game,junior forward/midfielder Duke Hashimoto needed just 4:50 inovertime to get one past goalie Disbennett. The Kapolei, Hawaiinative was also named to the all-tournament team.
It was Hashimoto’s 10-yard kick that propelled theMustangs to victory, handing St. Louis their first loss of theseason.
Still electrified from their OT win against St. Louis, theMustangs challenged the Cincinnati Bearcats Sunday afternoon. Whilethe game against the Billikens saw nearly 100 minutes pass before agoal was recorded, Cincinnati defender Matt Hayden headed a cornerkick past first-year goalkeeper Steve Sandbo at 10:43.
SMU had an answer, as sophomore midfielder Alex Smith racked uphis first goal as a Mustang at the 22:10 mark. Smith was named mostvaluable player of the tournament.
Early in the second half, Scott Corbin gave the Mustangs theirfirst lead of the game when he scored from six yards out at 52:09.The goal was Corbin’s first of his collegiate career.
The tug-of-war continued as, at 54:30, senior forward WiremuPatrick drove one into the left side of the net to even the scoreat two.
It would be nearly 20 minutes before sophomore defender AdrianChevannes put the Bearcats’ hopes to rest. Chevannes, atransfer student, sent a 12-yard kick past Cincinnati goalkeeperMike Vessells to cap off a 3-2 SMU win.
The Mustangs out-shot the Bearcats 21-5 in the game.
In addition to Hashimoto, Tomasso and MVP Smith, juniormidfielder David Chun was also named to the all-tournamentteam.
This weekend, the Mustangs (3-1-0) will travel to Tampa, Fla.(weather permitting) for the South Florida Tournament, which willsee the team play the South Florida Bulls (3-0-0) 6:30 p.m. Fridayand the Florida International University Golden Panthers (1-1-0) 11a.m. Saturday.
