The constant rhythm of the drums from the crowd at WestcottField on Sunday afternoon made one thing very clear: this was not atypical college soccer scrimmage.
Even though the Brazilian women’s national soccer teamoutscored the women’s soccer team, they took anoverwhelmingly positive message from the spring scrimmage.
“We tried to actually play the game, not just clear theball and run,” Mustang coach John Cossaboon said.”I’m taking nothing but positives from today’sgame.”
The Brazilians, who play the United States women’snational soccer team next Sunday in Alabama, are ranked sixth inthe world and reached the quarterfinalists of last year’sFIFA Women’s World Cup.
“I was very pleased at how long our team kept Brazil offthe scoreboard,” Cossaboon said. “We went out on thefield matching up against one of the best groups of players in theworld. I couldn’t be more proud of our players.”
A large crowd, often chanting in Portuguese and waving blue,green and yellow Brazilian flags, did not have much to celebrateearly in the game.
SMU held the Brazilians without a shot until Christianeconnected on a half volley in the 20th minute. The assist went toRosana.
With the wind at their back, the Brazilians continued to press,earning a penalty kick for Formiga in the 27th minute. TheBrazilian captain’s first kick was called back, but she madethe second kick easily.
The Brazilians took a 3-0 lead into halftime after forward Kellynudged a soft header over SMU goalkeeper Amanda Clark.
“We kept them off the scoreboard for 20 minutes, which wasgreat,” said Clark, a junior. “I thought this was agreat learning experience for the team.”
Clark made several stellar saves in the second half, included adiving catch on a point blank header and a quick kick save on adangerous shot, both by Brazilian star Katia Cilene.
“I thought Amanda played very well,” Cossaboon said.”We know going into a game that she’s going to makegreat saves, the key was reducing the number of chances so that shedoesn’t have to.”
The Brazilians out shot the Mustangs 18-3 for the game, but SMUhad several near breaks when they sprung forwards Adria Campbelland Olivia O’Rear, both freshmen. Freshman substitute KatieMuslin also put pressure on the Brazilians.
In the second half, the Brazilians came out firing and scored agoal in the 48th minute when Michele collected a ball in thesix-yard box and placed a low, hard shot just inside the farpost.
The Mustangs held the Brazilians at bay until the 87thminute.
Elanie, a midfielder who was a handful all game, made a nice rundown the left wing and tapped the ball to an unmarked Katia whopowered it into the net.
“The score didn’t reflect the way we played as ateam,” Campbell said. “All in all, I was pretty proudof the way we played against the sixth-best team in theworld.”
The Mustangs round out their spring schedule when they travel toTCU for a scrimmage on Saturday.
