Sophomore midfielder Andrew Morales will be key in the match against Tulsa on Wednesday. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)

The SMU men’s soccer team will face off against a tough Tulsa team Wednesday night at Westcott field.

Tulsa is ranked No. 20 in the nation and the team has proven to be a tough team to beat.

According to smumustangs.com, the No. 25 Mustangs are ranked just behind Tulsa in the Midwest region, which makes the upcoming game a battle for the top spot in the region.

The Mustangs are looking to build off an impressive 1-0 victory over the University of Alabama at Birmingham that bumped the team up into the rankings.

The Mustangs will need another big performance Wednesday night from junior goalkeeper Jaime Ibarra and sophomore midfielder Tyler Engel who are both fresh of weekly awards.

Ibarra was selected as the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week after saving an impressive 17 shots. Also, Engel was named to the TopDrawerSoccer team of the week after scoring two goals in 75 seconds in the game against South Carolina.

The match will feature a battle between two of C-USA’s top goalkeepers in Ibarra and Mark Pais, who was named National Player of the Week to combat Ibarra’s C-USA Defensive award.

The Mustangs will have its hands full as the Golden Hurricane has a talented squad – Tulsa’s Kyle Cumings was just named C-USA’s Player of the Week.

However, SMU has its own weapons in players other than Ibarra and Engel. The Mustangs will also lean on sophomore midfielder Andrew Morales and freshman Leabardo Vazquez.

Morales and Vasquez are second and third on the team behind Engel in points scored, combined assists and goals.

One of the Mustangs’ strengths the team will look to capitalize on in this game is fast pace and quick game starts.

The Mustangs have scored six first half goals, only allowing one in that same span.

Despite the team’s speed and previous success, finishing will be key for the Mustangs as they have previously been out-scored in the second half.

SMU holds a 26-6-3 all-time record against Tulsa beating the Golden Hurricane 2-1 in their last matchup Oct. 5, 2011.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.