Men’s Soccer:
SMU men’s soccer continued its solid conference play this week. The Mustangs remain undefeated and maintained their first place position with one game left to play.
On Oct. 21, SMU defeated Tulsa in a hard-fought 3-2 game. Junior Stanton Garcia scored a goal 23 seconds into the game on a cross from Christian Boorom. Senior Idi Camara added two goals of his own (35th, 47th), including the game winner.
Then, the No. 12 Mustangs tied the No. 13 USF Bulls 2-2 Oct. 24 in a double-overtime draw. Sophomore Mauro Cichero scored his 10th goal of the season in the 18th minute. Camara added another goal in the 71st minute on a header from Kevin Meinecke. SMU lost its 2-0 lead on two late goals (77th, 86th) by USF midfielder Lindo Mfeka and was unable to score in overtime.
Camara was named by the American Athletic Conference as the Offensive Player of the Week Oct. 26 for his performance.
It will be Senior Night at Westcott Field Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. as the Mustangs take on Temple in the regular season finale. The team leads the AAC in shots (240), points (96), assists (36), and assists per game (2.25) and hopes to be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming AAC Championship tournament.
Women’s Soccer:
The SMU women’s soccer team lost its last two matches of the regular season this week.
The Mustangs lost to Temple 3-2 on Oct. 22. Sophomore Clair Oates and redshirt first-year Vanessa Valadez scored the team’s two goals. The Owls’ senior defender Erin Lafferty scored two penalty kick goals in the second half that made the difference in the close match.
SMU also fell to the conference leading UConn Huskies (16-2, 8-1 AAC) in the regular season finale Oct. 25. Sophomore defender Lauren Harrington scored her first career goal in the 2-1 loss.
Valadez led the Mustangs in shots (42), goals (8), points (20), shots on goal (20), and penalty kicks (3-3) this season.
The Mustangs finished ninth in the AAC (2-6-1) with a 5-10-1 overall record.
The AAC Championship tournament will be held at Westcott Field at SMU Nov. 3 – Nov. 7.
