Friday night at Westcott Field goals came early and often. Ryan Latham began by scoring off a pass from Duke Hashimoto, for his sixth goal of the season. Kevin Hudson notched his third goal of the season from a set piece on a corner kick.
Diego Walsh scored for the 17th time this season extending his team’s leading point total to 39. The Mustangs capped off the night when J.D. Johnston scored his first goal as a Mustang. The Indiana transfer student found just the right angle to put the ball into the back of the net giving the Ponies a 4-0 lead. All of the Mustangs goals came within the first 32 minutes of play. The attacking continued throughout the night and the Ponies created countless opportunities for close range.
Central midfielder, Kevin Hudson, was pleased with the offensive output.
“The offense is starting to get better,” Hudson said. “We know the tendencies of some of the younger guys and things are starting to click.”
The Ponies find themselves in familiar surroundings heading to St. Louis this weekend for the Missouri Valley Conference Finals. Since entering the MVC in 2000, SMU has gone an impressive 32-2-2 against MVC opponents. The Mustangs are the defending 2001 MVC champions.
The team will play Bradley University in the semi-final match. The Braves held SMU to a 1-1 draw earlier in the season. Hudson understands the importance of the upcoming games.
“A win could give us home field advantage for the rest of the season,” Hudson said. “After the weekend games everything is do or die.”
The Mustangs are currently riding a 16 games undefeated streak. The Ponies found out first hand last season that being undefeated doesn’t mean a thing. SMU went into the quarterfinal match against St. Johns with a record of 21-0 and lost 2-1.
“We don’t want to let any of the older guys down,” Hudson said. “Any of these games could be the last we play together, now is the time to step up.”