SMU senior forward Paulo da Silva leads a George Mason defender down the sidline Sept. 12 at Westcott Field. da Silva scored one goal during the game. (Casey Lee)
Last weekend the SMU men’s soccer team traveled to Oklahoma to compete in the Level 3 and Radisson Hotel Hurricane Classic at the University of Tulsa. The weekend proved to be a tough one as the Mustangs finished the tournament with a 1-1 record.
The Mustangs started the tournament with a game against undefeated Northern Illinois. The two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first 90 minutes before the Huskies scored the game winner in the 92nd minute.
Despite the loss, the Mustangs got great play out of junior goalkeeper Craig Hill as he made a career high 11 saves. Kekoa Osorio led the way for the Mustangs on the offensive side with two shots.
The second game of the tournament proved better for the Mustangs as they blanked the Hofstra pride to win the game by a score of 1-0.
Junior Dane Saintus recorded the winning goal in the 22nd minute. Saintus was unassisted when he scored from about three yards out.
On the other side of the ball the Mustangs were once again perfect, as they allowed no goals on seven shots. With the win, Hill is now tied for the lead in Conference USA with four shutouts.
Hill also leads the conference with a .49 goals against average and .882 save percentage.
The Mustangs, who are now 6-1-1, went into the tournament ranked No. 2 overall by nearly every publication including the National Soccer Coaches of America (NSCAA) poll.
After the loss, however, the Mustangs have dropped No. 8 in the latest College Soccer News rankings and all the way to No. 13, according to topdrawersoccer.com.
The NSCAA rankings do not come out until Tuesday afternoon so it is unknown how the loss will affect the team in the coaches’ minds.
This weekend the Mustangs will return home to open their conference schedule Saturday against Tulsa. The two teams should have a good idea of what to expect since they both had a chance to watch each other this past weekend. Game time Saturday is set for 7 p.m.
