The Mustangs played host to the Mi Cocina Men’s SoccerClassic over the weekend.

In both matches, the Mustangs’ offense had difficultyfinding the back of the net. Back-to-back 1-0 victories did littleto energize the crowd in a sport already criticized by some for alack of excitement.

Head coach Schellas Hyndman, was never concerned about the levelof play.

“The offense will score goals,” Hyndman said.”The defense did a good job of keeping us in thematch.”

The offensive drought was dusted under the rug by a stellardefensive showing.

On Friday night, the Mustangs found themselves strugglingagainst a pesky team from Oral Roberts University. The sides played101 scoreless minutes before freshman standout Ramon Nunezconverted the game-winning penalty kick.

The Mustang offense dominated all night. They recorded 10 shotson goal to ORU’s one.

The Mustangs finally capitalized during the second overtimeperiod when Duke Hashimoto was tackled from the side and taken downin the penalty area. Nunez put away the deciding penalty kick tomake his team-leading sixth point of the year.

Senior midfielder and captain Kevin Hudson, was quick to bragabout the defensive showing.

“How can you complain when you shut teams out?”Hudson said. “If we score once and the other team neverscores, that is enough.”

Under the new 4-4-2 formation — four defenders, fourmidfielders and two forwards — Hudson is in charge of runningthe counter attack.

“When coach changed from the 3-5-2 to the 4-4-2, it meantI would be getting more touches on the ball,” Hudson said.”My role is to receive possession, and to start the offensefrom the back.”

The change in formation might have had something to do with theuncharacteristic performance.

“Any changes we make might take some time to get usedto,” Hyndman said. “The young guys are going to pick itup, and we hope to only get better.”

On Saturday, the Mustangs found themselves on the defensiveagain. The visiting University of New Mexico Lobos gave the Mustangdefense more than they bargained for.

Continuous long balls into the corners forced the Mustangdefense to track and mark the Lobos tight. The ball continued torapidly change possession for much of the first half.

The back defensive line — Ugo Ihemelu, Ross Spencer, MynorGonzalez and Jay Needham — held its ground throughout thenight.

Junior goalkeeper T.J. Tomasso put in another solid showing asthe Mustang’s last line of defense. Tomasso recordedconsecutive shutouts for the third time in his collegiate career.Hashimoto gave the offense the only spark it needed.

In the 24th minute, Hashimoto was on the receiving end of abrilliant string of passes. He tucked home the game’s onlygoal. The victory was enough for the host Mustangs to take hometournament champion honors.

Hudson collected some hardware as well after being namedtournament MVP. Hashimoto, Hudson, Nunez and Tomasso were all namedto the Mi Cocina Classic All-Tournament Team.

Junior forward Adam Robertson is confident the team will get ontrack.

“It is early in the year, and there is no reason to beworried about our start,” Robertson said. “We have oneof the quickest and most talented offenses in the country; thegoals are going to come.”

Robertson also added that he believes the team is currentlyplaying well.

“We might not be blowing teams out, but we have only lostone game this year,” he said. “The team is young andstarting to come together with every game we play.”

The Mustangs are currently 4-1 for the season and will travel toTulsa this weekend to face Denver and No. 19-ranked Stanford in theGolden Hurricane Classic.