After a double-overtime tie with the University of TexasWednesday night, the SMU Mustangs’ women soccer team (13-3-3,6-1-1 WAC) had two games remaining on its schedule: One against theNevada Wolfpack (2-14-1, 0-8-0 WAC) on Friday and the other againstBoise State (9-8-2, 2-4-2) on Sunday. After winning both games, theLady Mustangs won their fifth-straight WAC regular seasontitle.
Friday night’s game against Nevada gave SMU a chance toclinch at least a share of the WAC title with a win. The Mustangsstarted the game with intensity and that carried over until thelast whistle blew. The final score was 3-0, giving the Mustangstheir fifth shutout of the season.
SMU capitalized on an early scoring opportunity when sophomoreOlivia O’Rear took the ball coast-to-coast, leaving theentire Nevada Wolfpack in her wake. At her last possible chance,O’Rear faked a shot and dumped the ball off in front of thegoal to senior Jill Heinemann. Heinemann tapped the ball in for hersixth goal of the season. The first half ended with SMU leading1-0.
In the second half, freshman midfielder Autumn Browning foundherself in the right place at the right time twice to account forall of SMU’s remaining goals. Both plays were almost mirrorimages of each other. O’Rear dished out assists on bothplays, delivering two perfect corner kicks to Browning.
Browning’s two goals gave SMU a 3-0 lead that would holduntil the final buzzer.
After the game, Browning talked about her two-goal night.
“We picked it up a lot in the second half and I got twogreat corner kicks from Olivia O’Rear,” said Browning.”The ball just came in the center and they left me open so Ijust finished them off.”
O’Rear finished the game with three assists, and SMUgoalkeeper Amanda Clark was credited for the shutout.
Sunday afternoon, SMU posted their sixth shutout of the seasonwith a 3-0 victory against Boise State. The win clinched theconference title outright.
Along with the title, SMU also secured the top seed in nextweekend’s WAC tournament. The Lady Mustangs finished theregular season with an overall record of 13-3-3 and a WAC record of6-1-1.
Amanda Clark and the entire SMU defense were never reallythreatened by the Broncos of Boise State, and the shutout wasClark’s second in a row.
As far as offense goes, O’Rear shifted roles from passerto scorer. After her three-assist performance against Nevada, thesophomore forward tallied her first career hat trick. Scoring allthree of SMU’s goals, O’Rear gave the Mustangs the winin their final game of the season.
“We had a really great game against Texas and nowwe’ve won back-to-back games, so we are keeping our winningstreak going into the WAC tournament,” Browning said.
Having earned a first round bye, the Mustangs’ first gamewon’t be until Thursday, Nov. 7th in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The team will be playing the winner of the No. 4 seed Hawaiiversus No. 5 seed Tulsa game, which will be played onWednesday.
