Saint Louis University’s Rob Viviano slides into SMU’s Dane Saintus during last Friday’s game at Westcott Field. (John Schreiber)
The site of this weekend’s Mi Cocina Classic will be Westcott Field. The much-anticipated tournament figures will showcase the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers, the No. 8 SMU Mustangs, the Tulsa Hurricanes and the Georgetown Hoyas.
The tournament begins when the Hoyas and the Hurricanes square off in a battle of unranked teams on Friday at 5 p.m. Even though both of these teams have not cracked the top 25, they both have historically solid programs that challenge top 25 opponents.
However, the headliners of the tournament are undoubtedly SMU and Virginia. They face off at 7:30 p.m. immediately following the match up between Tulsa and Georgetown.
Virginia (2-0) poses match up problems for any team because of junior German forward Yannick Reyering. Reyering is 6-6 and on the Herman Trophy watch list. In his career he has scored 28 goals with 19 assists in only 42 career games. Midfielder Chris Tierney already has three goals this season, tying his career high, and will be looking to get Reyering the ball early against the Mustangs.
SMU is looking for its first win after tying in the opening game against St. Louis 1-1. The Mustangs won the only match-up against Virginia back in 1987 by a score of 1-0.
The Mustangs offense needs to show up in a huge way against Virginia because this game has the makings of a shootout. Midfielder Bruno Guarda scored SMU’s lone goal of the season on a penalty kick late in the game.
Senior Adrian Chevannes is the key player for SMU over the weekend. Virginia has the height advantage over the Mustangs, so Chevannes needs to bring his physical brand of soccer to the field. If Chevannes can set the tone of the match, SMU will fare well against a large Virginia team.
The next round of tournament games occur on Sunday, Sept. 9, when Virginia takes on Tulsa at noon. SMU faces Georgetown at 2:30 p.m., following the Virginia game. The tough weekend is just the beginning of SMU’s tough non-conference schedule that should prepare the Mustangs for conference play.
