Sophomore midfielder Andrew Morales (above) assisted teammate Tyler Engel on one of his two goals within 75 seconds Monday night. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)

SMU dominated South Carolina Monday night at Westcott Field in the Mustangs conference opener, winning 2-1.

Tyler Engel scored two goals in 75 seconds during the first half to give the Mustangs a comfortable lead early on.

His first goal came off a long feed from freshman Derek Schrick. Engel then eluded two defenders and shot the ball softly over the head of South Carolina goalie Alex Long, giving the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.

Seventy five seconds later, Andre Morales gave Engel a long pass up the middle. Engel took the ball, ran over a defender, and scored the ball to the lower right corner of the goal.

Both goals were results of good passes up the middle and Engel sprinting past defenders.

“When we watched their tape against Tulsa their back line looked a little slow,” Engel said. “I got some good balls through from my teammates and took my chances when I got them.”
Engel has 11 points including four goals and three game-winning goals this year to lead SMU in all three categories so far this season.

The two quick goals put SMU in a very comfortable position. But many times it seemed as though the Mustangs were playing conservatively – foregoing offense and focusing on protecting its team’s two-goal lead.

“We felt good about being up two goals,” head coach Tim McClements said. “But I said to the guys at half time, ‘2-0 is the worst score in college soccer. You give up a goal and then they’re in [the game].'”

Jaime Ibarra had another strong outing, racking up seven saves and allowing one goal – despite South Carolina outshooting SMU 17 to 8.

“[Ibarra] has without a doubt been the backbone of our team,” McClements said. “We have different lineups that we put out there, but either way he is there behind us. We are really happy to have him.”

Ibarra has allowed only two goals in the past four games.

“I’m really proud of our players,” he said. “It’s the first time we have put together a full 90 minutes where we were playing at the level we want and I feel like we deserve the win. We got the points and now you move on and got to look at UAB.”

The 638-person crowd at Monday night’s game included 175 student athletes participating in the SMU Student Athletic Advisory Committee’s annual “Pack the House” event.

With the win, SMU is now 5-2-2 overall and 1-0-0 in C-USA play.

The Mustangs will play the UAB Blazers in Birmingham on Friday.

The last time SMU faced the Blazers was in the C-USA Championship final last year, where the Mustangs won 2-0.