Men’s soccer dominates Classic (Photo by Heston Mosher, The Daily Campus)

The SMU men’s soccer team made Westcott Field’s opening weekend one to remember. The men kept their winning streak alive by winning the SMU Mi Cocina Classic. The Mustangs opened the tournament on Friday night against No.10 Indiana. In front of a crowd of over 2,000, the Mustangs shut out the Hoosiers 1-0 taking SMU to 5-0 for the season. Both teams came out strong offensively, leaving the game scoreless at halftime. The game was physical to say the least; the referees stopped the game numerous times to give free kicks for slide tackles and tripping. The large crowd, full of SMU athletes, students, parents and local fans, reacted loudly to calls made by the referee early in the game. The electric atmosphere at Westcott provided the perfect opportunity for an SMU win. In the 75th minute, Dario Saintus decided it was time to put the Mustangs on the scoreboard. With an assist from Scott Geppert, Saintus helped clinch SMU’s first victory in the Mi Cocina Classic.

Saturday night also proved to be successful for SMU as the men defeated 17th-ranked Brown 5-1. The Mustangs did give up their first goal of the season to the Bears, but that didn’t stop goalkeeper Matt Wideman from being named the tournament MVP. Before Brown’s Rhett Berstein ended his shut out streak, Wideman had managed to defend the Mustang goal for five games. In addition to being named as the tournament MVP, the goalkeeper also received his second C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honor and was named to the College Soccer News.com’s National Team of the Week. Other SMU players named to the All-Tournament team included Daniel Lopez, Adrian Chevannes, Jay Needham, Bruno Guarda.

Two of SMU’s five goals on Saturday were the result of penalty kicks by Mynor Gonzalez. Scott Corbin knocked two in as well, his first of the season being a header off a free kick from Jeff Harwell. Adrian Chevannes was responsible for the fourth goal, scoring just a few minutes behind Corbin in the first half.

SMU men’s soccer is now 6-0 in the season, having dropped only one goal so far. The Mustangs continue play here in Dallas against Centenary College on Tuesday at Westcott Field at 7:00p.m.