The Mustangs are now 4-0 this season with Saturday’s victory over the Rice Owls. (A. Neely Eisenstein)
The SMU men’s club lacrosse team won its first home game of the season Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs are not yet ranked, but they have already beaten one Top 25 team.
The Mustangs are 4-0 in the North Division of the Lone Star Alliance.
Saturday’s 9-2 victory over Rice University kept the Mustangs undefeated. SMU sophomore, midfielder Jono Hiemenz had an incredible first half and finished off the day with a hat trick.
The Mustang defense, led by senior co-captain Ryan Walsh, was able to hold off the Owls for the first three quarters of the game. Rice finally scored its two goals in the final quarter.
“We’re off to a real strong start. The best start since 2003,” said Chip Hiemenz, assistant coach and defensive coordinator.
The team traveled to Lubbock the first weekend in February to play a double-header against No. 25 team Texas Tech University and the University of Oklahoma. Texas Tech always proves to be a challenging game for the Mustangs. The last time SMU beat the Red Raiders was four years ago, and they had home field advantage.
In Lubbock, the Mustangs proved they are in it to win this year. After falling to the Red Raiders 4-2 at the end of the first period, SMU came back to win with a score of 14-10.
“Tech is one of the biggest games of the year and always the hardest to play,” said head coach Tom Greene.
The game against Oklahoma later that day proved to be less of a challenge with an 11-2 win over the Sooners.
Sophomore Taylor Manning is the high scorer of the season thus far with six goals in the Texas Tech game and a total of 10 goals on the season. Freshman attack Timmy Conley and Jono Hiemenz are tied for second with eight goals.
The Mustangs are set to host No. 22 University of Texas this Friday at 7 p.m. Last year SMU lost to Texas in the last second of the game, but the Mustangs appear to be ready for this one, according to Greene.
SMU has never beaten both Texas Tech and Texas in the same season.
The Mustangs have high hopes for the season. The team has its best freshmen class since 2003, said Kimble Ratliff, president of the club and former captain.
“We certainly look to make the national tournament this year,” said Ratliff. SMU has yet to play in the championship or win the LSA title. The national championship will be in Dallas the second week in May. Dreams of a championship may become a reality this year.
“We’re getting better and better each week,” said Greene.
In addition to Friday’s game against Texas, the Mustangs host three more games this weekend. Saturday SMU plays Texas Christian University at 1 p.m. Sunday’s game is against St. Cloud State at 12 p.m. And the Mustangs cap off their four games in four days on Monday against Missouri State University at 2 p.m.
