With three games left on their conference schedule, the SMUmen’s soccer team [12-3, 7-0 MVC] is peaking at the rightmoment.
Winners of five in a row, the Mustangs cruised through theweekend with two more victories against Evansville [3-12-1, 2-6MVC] and Southwest Missouri State [10-4-2, 3-4-1].
Primarily based on their recent hot-streak, SMU has moved allthe way up to No. 4 in the nation and that rank will continue toclimb as long as the Mustangs keep winning.
Friday night, SMU played host to visiting Evansville. In heavyrain, SMU scored six goals against Evansville, and it was more thanenough for the win.
This was SMU’s first time to score at least six goalssince the team scored eight against TCU on Sept. 20, 2002.
Along with their downpour of goals, the Mustangs’ defensewas also perfect for a third straight game, shutting out Evansville6-0.
Six different players on SMU’s squad accounted for thegoals.
Just past the eight-minute mark, SMU struck first when seniorRyan Latham scored off a centering pass from Alex Smith. Smith,coming off his three-goal performance against Tulsa, scored next atthe 14:30 mark.
With 18:25 on the clock, senior defender Ugo Ihemelu wasillegally taken down in the box and that set up MynorGonzalez’s third goal of the season.
Adam Robinson rounded out the first half scoring with a goal atthe 41:34 mark.
The rain let up as the second half began, but the goals didnot.
Freshman Scott Corbin put up SMU’s fifth goal of the gameat the 75:49 mark and senior Jake Jackson ended the storm with thefinal goal of the night coming at the 86:42 mark.
SMU’s final home game of the year was Sunday, as SouthwestMissouri State came to town.
In a game that was not dominated by either team, the Mustangswere able to capitalize on scoring chances, winning 2-1.
The first goal came at the 23:09 mark as junior Colin Clarkscored off a rebound for his first goal of the season. The eventualgame winner came at 56:39 when sophomore Adrian Chevannes put in aheader of a crossing pass from Latham. T.J. Tomasso, the Mustanggoalkeeper, allowed only one goal in the last four games.
Junior forward Duke Hashimoto, the team’s leading scorerprior to a mid-season injury, had some words to say about histeam’s recent success.
“We’ve been playing really well. We’ve beenable to create better scoring opportunities and our defense hasreally improved,” he said. “Everyone as a whole hasreally been working hard to increase their game.
“If we can keep winning and come away with a conferencechampionship, then we’ll have a great shot at home-fieldadvantage.”
The Mustangs close out their regular season on the road nextweekend with a Friday night game at Bradley and a Sunday afternoonmeeting with Eastern Illinois.
