The No. 1 ranked SMU men’s soccer team, according to Soccer America magazine, travels to Lexington, Ken., this Saturday to take on the Kentucky Wildcats. The Mustangs (11-2-2, 6-0-1) can clinch the C-USA regular season title with a win, while the Wildcats (6-8-2, 4-2-0) can move into second place with a win.
Kentucky started off the season with only one win in its first eight games. However, it has recently played well in conference games, but is coming off of a 4-0 shutout loss to nationally ranked Indiana.
Sophomore defender Barry Rice, who leads the Wildcats, is an integral part of the team’s offense in spite of his position. He has scored a team-best 15 points and seven goals on the season. The Wildcats’ offense does not run through Rice, but he is undoubtedly a scoring threat when he pushes forward and takes the Wildcats’ penalty kicks.
The Mustangs are one of the hottest teams in collegiate soccer considering they have a current winning streak of seven games and are undefeated in their last 10.
The Mustangs feature a solid offensive unit that utilizes nearly every player on the field. This season 12 different Mustangs have scored at least one goal with six players scoring at least three goals. Junior forward Richard Oliva and junior midfielder Bruno Guarda are tied for the team-goal lead with seven.
Defensively, SMU has been stingy over its 10-game undefeated streak. Senior goalkeeper Steve Sandbo now has 0.95 goals against average with four shutouts on the season. During the streak, the Mustangs have allowed 0.8 goals per game while shutting out four of its opponents.
The success of these two aspects of the team cannot be attributed to any specific individuals considering SMU coach Schellas Hyndman demands players play on both sides of the ball. This team-first attitude of the players has become plainly visible over the past 10 games.
SMU’s immense success has resulted in players receiving many national awards. Guarda was named national player of the week by the NSCAA and Soccer America, while also taking C-USA Offensive Player of the Week. Sandbo was awarded with the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week.
Senior midfielder Ben Shuleva and junior forward Scott Geppert were also both named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Conference team. This award makes them both eligible to receive Academic All-American awards as well.
The game will take place Saturday night at 7. This pivotal game for SMU will be nationally televised on CSTV.