Senior forward player Ben Hill kicks the ball in SMU men’s soccer team’s game against Tulsa on Oct. 3. (Jeffrey Mark Reese/The Daily Campus)

Tyler Engel lifted the No.19 Mustangs over Marshall 1-0 Sunday afternoon with a goal in overtime on senior day.

“Every time we play Marshall it’s a knock-down, drag-out,” head coach Tim McClements said.

“They have a good mix of athletes and technical players. For whatever reason it’s a good match and it’s better when you come out on the winning side of it.”

The goal by Engel was only the eighth allowed by Marshall goalkeeper Daniel Withrow, who had previously only allowed seven goals this season.

Engel got the ball on the right side of the box, made a cut inside and fired an 8-yard shot in the corner to give the Mustangs the win, moving the team to 10-3-3 and 6-1 in C-USA play.
“He [Engel] is the guy you want on the ball and in the box,” McClements said. “He is one of those guys that the world just slows down for him when he is in the box and he is able to pick things out and finish.”

Marshall came out as the aggressor, out-shooting SMU in the first half 11-6.

However Marshall only had two shots on goal and seemed to be forcing shots that weren’t there.

The SMU team was the opposite, with each shot being more methodically set up.

The Mustangs seemed to be waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike rather than force the issue and leave the team vulnerable on the defensive end.

All season long, SMU has had a defensive approach and is consistently out-shot, but when looking at the team’s shot to goal ratio it is apparent that the team is doing something right.
The Mustangs are averaging 10.3 shots a game and 1.33 goals a game while their opponents are averaging 15.3 shots a game and .933 goals a game.

In the second half SMU showed signs of urgency, but were unable to get anything past Withrow.

The team uncharacteristically took more shots than its opponent in the second half and tied the team at 15 shots for the entire game.

“We haven’t really dominated in the shots section in a lot of our games,” McClements said.

“Generating quality opportunities is our main objective and we would have liked to have created more. But we got the one that mattered.”

Goalkeeper Jaime Ibarra continued his impressive season record three saves in his sixth shutout of the year.

If the Mustangs do not host a playoff game this season then Sunday’s match would be the last home game for seniors Ben Hill, T.J. Nelson, Juan Robles and Ryan Rosenbaum.

The four were honored in a brief pregame ceremony where the players were escorted to the center of the field and presented with a gift from Athletic Director Rick Hart.

“It’s going to be really sad to see these guys go,” Ibarra said. “They’ve been a really big part of the team.”