Senior forward Dane Saintus shoots the ball on goal Friday evening at Westcott field. SMU defeated Bradley 2-0. MICHAEL DANSER/The Daily Campus

It was another bittersweet weekend for the SMU Mustangs hosting the Prego Express Italian Invitational. These two games were the first home games of the season for SMU. The Mustangs won 2-0 against Bradley University on Friday evening and lost against Cal State University-Northridge on Sunday afternoon with a final score of 2-1.

SMU showed coordination and drive against Bradley and came out strong with two goals within the first five minutes.

Head coach Tim McClements said, “In the first thirty minutes we played some of the best soccer we’ve played.”

After a free kick for the Mustangs, forward Paulo da Silva had the first goal in one minute and thirty-one seconds into the game off an assist from midfielder Kekoa Osorio.

Defender Brandon Pfluger had his first goal of the season shortly after, with an assist from midfielder Payton Hickey. Goalie, Craig Hill, had his second shut-out of the season with four saves.

Da Silva said this season the team’s goal is to get better every game.

“Come out, have fun and play as a team, not individuals. If we can do that, we will win,” he said.

Despite da Silva’s optimism, the Mustangs were not able to secure a win on Sunday against CSU-Northridge.

CSU-Northridge scored early with a goal by Cameron Sims and later in the 69th minute with a goal from Dylan Riley. Mustang defender, Leone Cruz, headed in the team’s single goal 78 minutes into the game with an assist from forward Dane Saintus. This was Cruz’s first goal this season and the fourth assist of the season for Saintus.

McClements said that after the first half the Mustangs were always chasing the game and were unable to score a second time.

“If we could have gotten a goal to equalize it would have been a different story, we just couldn’t find it.”

The Mustangs go on to play University of Alabama-Birmingham Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Missouri State Sept. 27 at 1:30 p.m.