SMU’s Scott Corbin (right) goes for the ball against a Centenary defender during a recent game at Westcott Field. (Stuart Palley)
The SMU men’s soccer team built on its bounce-back win against Centenary with a victory over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. The win improves the 11th ranked Mustangs to 4-2-1 while dropping the Golden Eagles to 2-5.
The first half of the game featured little tangible action. There were a lot of turnovers for both teams and the Mustangs struggled, mounting a successful offensive attack.
The slow start to the game should not come as any surprise considering all of the injuries to SMU’s starters. Forward Paolo da Silva, midfielder Jeff Harwell, and defenders Adrian Chevannes and Leone Cruz were all inactive for Saturday’s game. These injuries occurred during a game against the UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos.
The half ended in a scoreless tie with nothing major occurring. The only action was an Oral Roberts yellow card issued to Vince Tizzone in the ninth minute.
In the second half, the game pace picked up and the goals starting coming left and right. The Mustangs got on the board first in the 66th minute when sophomore forward Dane Saintus scored on a lead pass from Bruno Guarda. The goal was Saintus’ third on the season and Guarda notched his sixth assist on the play.
Oral Roberts responded only two minutes later when Tommy Apitz retrieved a loose ball off of a corner kick and shot from about nine yards out. There was no assist on the play since Apitz won he ball in a crowd of defenders.
SMU scored the next goal in the 72nd minute when Scott Geppert headed the ball past the goalie off a Gabe Arredondo corner kick. It was Geppert’s first goal of the season after missing all but one game after healing from multiple injuries.
Again, the Golden Eagles responded in the 77th minute when Jacob Schmoker had a breakaway run through the defense. He shot form the upper right corner from about 15 yards out.
Regulation ended in a 2-2 tie and the teams played two 10-minute overtime periods. This year, overtime ends after the first goal is scored.
The overtime periods looked like the first half with almost no scoring chances for either team. The game looked like it was going to end in a tie until a Golden Eagles defender hit the ball with his hand in the box. It was unintentional, so the referee did not give the defender a red card.
The handball resulted in a penalty kick for the Mustangs. After having a penalty kick stopped last week, Guarda stepped into the box to take the kick. Guarda said, “[You] need courage to take a penalty kick with the game on the line. It is never easy…I was able to get past the miss on Thursday because even Pele missed penalty kicks.”
With only 26 seconds left in the game, Guarda faked left and kicked it past the goalie into the bottom right corner of the goal to lift the Mustangs to a 3-2 victory.
Coach Schellas Hyndman was happy with the win because the Golden Eagles are “a team filled with international players that could go pro. We were going without a lot of starters and that takes our depth away.” The Mustangs’ depth is an integral part of their success.
The win gives the Mustangs a much needed confidence boost for the start of conference play. SMU will face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Friday in Tulsa at 7 p.m.
