Unfamiliar territory is an understatement. The Mustangs lost itsthird game in a row, falling to Bradley University 2-1 in overtimeon Friday. The Ponies rebounded and snapped the losing streak bybeating Eastern Illinois 1-0 on Sunday. The victory was the firstfor the Ponies in its last four matches. The last time themen’s soccer team lost three consecutive games was at the endof the 1999 season and the first two games into the 2000season.
“We try to look at the positive. These kids hatelosing,” head coach Schellas Hyndman said. “There werea couple of things that were unlucky. We didn’t do what ittook to win.”
Friday night the Mustangs did everything possible to try tobreak the losing ways. The effort didn’t turn out to beenough. The Ponies outshot Bradley 23-5, dominating offensively forthe entire match. Eight different Mustangs recorded a shot on goal.It wasn’t until the final minute of the first half before thePonies struck. Ramon Nunez gathered the ball just outside the18-yard box and sent a line drive across the goalmouth. The ballfound its way just under diving Bradley goaltender Chris Dunsheathand into the back of the net.
The 1-0 lead didn’t hold for long. Less than 15 minutesinto the second half Bradley tied the game at one. Jon Caldwellcollected a loose ball off of diving Mustang goalie T.J. Tomassoand tapped in the rebound. The score remained tied at one until thefirst overtime period.
Tomasso collected a loose ball to his feet along the end lineand dribbled past a Bradley forward. At the top of the 18-yard-box,Tomasso was tackled from the side, and Bradley forward Ken Hickmangathered the lose ball and found himself with an open net.
An emotional Bradley bench exploded onto the field to celebratethe victory. Bradley senior defender Ryan Halcrow felt the Bravesearned the victory.
“We definitely deserve to be playing at this level,”Halcrow said. “SMU will win their games this year, but weearned this one as a team.”
The Missouri Valley Conference loss was the first at home forthe Ponies since moving into the MVC in 2000.
Junior midfielder J.D. Johnston isn’t worried about therecent slump.
“We have the best talent in the country,” Johnstonsaid. “We just need to figure out how to put everythingtogether.”
Sunday the Mustangs finally gave Hyndman something to cheerabout. Once again the Ponies dominated the offensive side of thegame. The Mustang offense outshot Eastern Illinois 24-7 but wasonly able to find the net once. Junior forward Ryan Latham scoredin the 17th minute and the Mustang defense held on until theend.
The 1-0 victory was the Ponies first in conference play thisseason. The win also snapped the three-game losing streak and wasthe 400th of Hyndman’s coaching career.
The Ponies now find themselves in a hole. The Mustangs are 1-3in MVC play and head off to play conference co-leader Tulsa andVanderbilt this weekend.
