This weekend, the SMU men’s soccer team returns home to open its conference schedule. The Mustangs’ opponent for this Saturday’s game will be their bitter rivals, the University of Tulsa.
The match, which is SMU’s Conference USA opener, kicks off at 7 p.m. Saturday at Westcott Field.
Tulsa comes into the game with a 4-3-1 record. The Golden Hurricane is coming off a tournament win last weekend, with victories over Hofstra and Northern Illinois. Northern Illinois gave the Mustangs their first loss of the season last Friday.
Leading the way for Tulsa offensively is freshman Austin Neil. Neil was named Conference USA co-Offensive Player of the Week and was also named to the Soccer America Men’s team of the Week after recording two goals and an assist last weekend. Neil leads the team in points and is 10th in Conference USA.
This weekend’s game will be the first since the new polls came out that reflected the Mustangs’ loss to Northern Illinois last Friday. The Mustangs have dropped from No. 2 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America polls to No. 6 this week.
“You cant take any team at this level lightly, especially a team like Northern Illinois, who had won five games,” McClements said. “They are a very difficult team to play and matched up well against us. I was really happy to see the guys were able to turn it around on Sunday (a 1-0 victory over Hofstra), because Hofstra was a very good team as well.”
The Mustangs and Golden Hurricane have seen each other up close. Tulsa played in the Prego Express Italian Invitational at Westcott Field early this season, and SMU played in the Tulsa Tournament last weekend.
“Tulsa is our No. 1 rival” said McClements. “They know who we are; we know who they are. I don’t think there are any secrets in this game.
“I don’t think it matters who is doing well coming into this game, If one team was favored heavily for this reason or that reason it would all go out the window.”
Thus far, the Mustangs have benefited from great play out of sophomore goalkeeper Craig Hill, who has 30 saves this season.
“He has been stellar” said McClements. “We don’t want to rely on him, though he has had to bail us out a few times recently. We want to make it so that they first have to get through our players then they have to get through Craig Hill, and that’s a nice feelings to have with him back there.”
