SMU forward Dane Saintus hustles past a UAB opponent during the Mustang’s 2-1 win over the Blazers last night at Westcott Field. (John Schreiber)

The No. 6 SMU men’s soccer team improved to 8-2-2 after their 2-1 win over the UAB Blazers last night. With the win, the Mustangs overtook Tulsa atop the conference standings with a record of 3-0-1 in conference play.

The Blazers opened the game with a quick goal in the 3rd minute. The Blazers’ Jonah Stewart dribbled into the corner and crossed the ball deep into the box. Derek Rios came running in and tapped home the easy goal to open the game.

The early goal stunned the Mustangs, but caused them to pick up the pace early in the game. Their aggressive play paid off in the 24th minute when SMU scored the equalizer.

It was a wild shot sequence when Bruno Guarda’s shot deflected off of the goalie right to Ben Shuleva. Shuleva hit a strike that deflected off the goalie and went straight to junior forward Scott Geppert. He tapped it home for his third goal of the season.

The Mustangs scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the 38th minute when a similar shot sequence took place. Scott Corbin’s shot deflected off the goalie and forward Richard Oliva was able to hit it past the keeper from only three yards out. The goal marked Oliva’s team-leading sixth goal of the season.

The half ended with the Mustangs leading the Blazers by a score of 2-1. The one-goal margin proved large enough for SMU. The team controlled the pace of the rest of the game and rarely allowed the ball into its third of the field.

The Mustangs’ next game is Sunday against Florida International at Westcott Field at 1 p.m. The Mustangs will look to stay atop the conference in their fifth conference game of the season.