The men’s soccer team will face the UAB Blazers today in the semifinals of the C-USA conference tournament. The Mustangs are 16-1-3 for the year while the Blazers are 10-6-2. The Mustangs’ only loss of the season was a 2-1 game against UAB in Birmingham and SMU will be looking for payback.

The Blazers’ Jerson Monteiro poses the largest threat to ending the Mustangs run for the C-USA championship. In the regular season, Monteiro won the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week once and scored 13 goals in 18 games.

The Mustangs defensive unit, which features senior defenders Jay Needham and Mynor Gonzalez, should be able to limit the production of Monteiro. Another shutout, however, will require a team effort that controls the midfield, limits the Blazers’ scoring opportunities, and capitalizes on scoring opportunities. If the Mustangs accomplish these goals, they will undoubtedly come away with another victory.

If the Mustangs beat the Blazers today, they will play the winner of the No. 2 seeded Kentucky Wildcats and No. 3 seeded Tulsa Golden Hurricanes on Sunday. The Mustangs beat both teams during the regular season by shutting them out. SMU beat Kentucky 4-0, when the team was ranked No. 15 in NCAA standings.

A popular strategy that some teams have used against the Mustangs this year has been to crowd the midfield by bringing strikers into the midfield and letting midfielders drop back in defense, the result being both teams are unable to score because the midfield is so crowded. Teams try this strategy because they are content with a tie against the Mustangs who have been in the top five almost the entire year. That strategy will not work for the rest of the season because there are no ties in postseason tournaments. Teams like UAB, Kentucky and Tulsa will be forced to play more aggressively, and the Mustangs offensive talent will show when the field opens up.

Kickoff is scheduled for today at 5 p.m. at the University of Tulsa. The championship game will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday.