The NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament continued this weekend at Westcott Field. SMU (13-4-3), the seventh seed in the tournament, won its first game of the tournament, after a first round bye, against the University of California (13-4-1) and lost against its next game against the University of Tulsa (12-6-4).
In a game that was primarily a defensive struggle against California, one goal was all it took for SMU to come away with the victory. David Chun scored the lone goal at the 5:56 minute mark when a shot was deflected in front of the goal right to him. But as Chun fired the shot, he took a foot to the face that resulted in a bloody nose.
After the only goal of the game was scored, the tone of the game returned to defense. Both SMU and California played outstanding in that aspect of the game, but SMU goalkeeper T.J. Tomasso’s solid play was again too much for the opponent. The shutout was his first of the tournament and he now has 26.5 shutouts in his career.
The win advanced SMU to the third round of the tournament against conference opponent Tulsa. The two teams met twice in the regular season, with SMU winning both, by scores of 4-0 and 2-1. On Saturday night, SMU and Tulsa played their third game of the season series and as this game proved, it is hard to beat the same team three games in a row.
The game was SMU’s last of the season, as they fell to Tulsa 2-1 in double overtime.
In front of 1,406 fans, both teams played with intensity. The entire first half was played without a goal being scored by either team. Finally, SMU sophomore Alex Smith put the Mustangs on the scoreboard first when he punched in his 13th goal of the season. At the 60:51 minute mark, a scramble in front of the net set up a deflected ball and Smith took advantage of it.
Approximately five minutes later, a Mustang player was called for a handball penalty in the box. That foul set up a penalty kick by Tulsa’s Ryan Pore and his ball sailed past Tomasso and notched the game at 1-1.
After Tulsa’s goal, the game was scoreless for some time. Eventually, in the second overtime, another Mustang foul was called just outside of the box and Ryan Pore again came to the rescue for Tulsa. His free kick was perfectly struck into the upper corner of the net for the game-winning goal at the 106-minute mark.
SMU finished the season with a record of 16-4-1. Tulsa increased its record to 12-6-4. Next up for Tulsa is a match with Indiana in the quarterfinals.
