The SMU women’s soccer team captured their first back-to-back wins this weekend, but could not keep the streak going through Sunday’s game. The Mustangs defeated Conference USA rival Marshall in a 3-2 showdown on Friday night, but surrendered what could have been a fourth C-USA win to East Carolina in a 2-1 loss.
With one win and one loss from its second consecutive week on the road, SMU now stands at 5-7-1 overall, and 3-2 in conference play.
In their second conference victory away from Westcott Field, the Mustangs got on the board first in the closing minutes of the first half Sophomore forward Sarah Benchaita scored on a pass from teammate freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Eidson, sending the ball over Marshall goalkeeper Liz Orton’s head into the top right corner of the net.
For 30 minutes the game remained at 1-0 in favor of the Mustangs until junior defender Kim Peabody battled through a series of defenders to get her first goal of the season from a corner kick. Up 2-0, SMU continued to overpower the Thundering Herd when freshman midfielder Dylan Jordan gave the Mustangs their third unanswered goal in the game just three minutes after Peabody’s point.
Marshall narrowly avoided the shutout by securing a pair of goals in the final five minutes of play, resulting in a final score of 3-2. The Thundering Herd got their first goal in the 85th minute when Molly Snead knocked in a pass over SMU freshman goalkeeper Courtney Webb’s hands into the upper left corner. The second goal was a result of Erika Duncan beating the SMU defense to the net, and shot the ball right inside the bottom corner.
Webb, in her fourth start for the Mustangs, put up five saves against Marshall resulting in her third win of the season. While the Mustangs out shot the Herd 6-4 in the first half, Marshall prevailed with a total of 18 shots compared to SMU’s 11.
The Herd fell to 3-3-0 in C-USA and 5-5-4 overall.
The East Carolina Pirates almost swept the Mustangs in Sunday’s game, but SMU got on the board in the final 12 minutes when Eidson scored her first collegiate goal of the season, preventing the Mustangs from facing their sixth shutout.
Eidson collected a pass from sophomore Lauren Shepherd, and defeated Pirate’s goalkeeper Amber Campbell in a footrace to the net.
Credited with the assist, Shepherd is now tied for first with six points along with senior Caitlin Carter and freshman Dylan Jordan for most points on the season.
All else close to equal on the stat sheet, the Mustangs were unable to match the Pirates two goals. SMU totaled 11 shots on goal to ECU’s 12, and Webb still put up a strong defensive front at the net, adding six saves to her career total, compared to ECU’s five.
With another win under their belts, the Pirates improve to 10-3-1 overall and 5-0-1 in Conference USA, making them the leader in C-USA polls, with one more win than No.2 Colorado College.
The Mustangs will return to the Hilltop on Friday night to host 8-4-1, 4-2-0 Memphis, and the University of Alabama (5-9-0, 3-3-0) on Sunday afternoon.
