Senior Krystal Bailey takes a shot in a game against Texas Tech. (Casey Lee)

SMU women’s soccer team returns to Westcott Field for two conference games this weekend after coming off a 1-1 record on the road last weekend.

SMU defeated Conference USA No. 6 Colorado College 2-1 in Colorado last weekend, but fell to C-USA No.2 UTEP 0-1. The Mustangs currently hold a 1-1-0 record in Conference USA the standings and are currently ranked at No. 7 in the conference.

The Mustangs will head into their second week of conference play tonight against the No. 8 Golden Eagles from Southern Miss.

Southern Miss currently stands at 6-6-0 overall, 1-1 in conference play.

Head coach Brent Erwin feels confident in his team’s ability to handle the intensity and competitive nature of C-USA play.

“With us being contenders to be the top team in the conference, you get everybody’s best game. We always have to be ready, but our kids are used to it. The players are very experienced,” explained Erwin.

Sunday night, SMU and the Knights from Central Florida will meet in what should be an intense matchup. UCF holds the No. 1 spot in C-USA standing, a 7-2-2 record overall, and are currently 2-0 in conference play. The Knights will play Tulsa in Oklahoma prior to coming to SMU.

When asked what they team needs to do to accomplish their goal of being C-USA champs, Erwin replied, “just keep playing like they have been. We just have to keep our intensity up, and keep playing the quality that we’re playing right now, keep creating the chances, keep defending like we are, and things will go our way.”

SMU goalkeeper and preseason Hermann Award nominee Ashley Gunter will defend the net in both games this weekend, with last week’s scorers Brittainy Vice and Kristin Medeiros returning to the field as well.

The Mustangs have won the conference championship ten times, starting back in 1995 and continuing through 2005, with the exception of the 1999 season. The last time SMU won the conference tournament was in 2004. With these totals, the women’s team has won a conference title ten times in the last eleven years.

Tonight’s game will kick off at 7 p.m. at Westcott Field, with Sunday’s game scheduled for 1 p.m.