SMU midfielder Kekoa Osorio (11) stretches to stop University of South Carolina’s Vance Benson (30) from passing him in SMU’s 3-0 loss in the Conference USA Tournament. (Lindsey Perkins)

The odds were stacked against the SMU men’s soccer team (10-5-2, 3-4-1) last night in the first round game of the Conference USA against the South Carolina Gamecocks (7-5-5, 2-2-4).

As well as starting defender Ryan Mirsky being sidelined with an injury, the Mustangs had to play without senior captain Daniel Lopez. Lopez was forced to sit out after receiving a red card in the final game against FIU.

In spite of the injuries and the loss of Lopez, the Mustangs started out the game by matching South Carolina in both effort and intensity. “The guys played hard,” said head coach Tim McClements after the game. “I don’t think the quality was there, but the heart was there.”

The effort by the inexperienced Mustangs kept the game scoreless until Blake Brettschneider scored a goal off of a deflected free kick in the 25th minute of the game.

For the rest of the half, the Mustangs unsuccessfully tried to score the equalizer. The aggressive offensive play eventually allowed the Gamecocks to beat the Mustangs on a counter with only 41 seconds left in the half.

Bryan Lowder scored the goal for South Carolina on the breakaway. He was assisted by Mike Lindsay.

The final South Carolina goal, which sealed the fate of the Mustangs, came in the 78th minute when Sam Aruthur flicked a Will Traynor pass into the far lower corner of the goal.