The SMU men’s soccer team defeated the FIU Golden Panthers 3-2 on Friday in double overtime.
The Mustangs got on the scoreboard first when Chase Wileman scored his third goal of the season on a free kick from midfield in the 39th minute. The Golden Panthers tied the game in the 66th minute when the Mustangs put the ball in their own goal.
The game included eight cards, three of which were red. In the 67th minute, the David Hope received the first red card for FIU. Only minutes later, Phill Fischer received a red card. The individual players who received red cards were kicked out of the game and the Golden Panthers played two men down for the remainder of the game.
Despite FIU’s mistakes, the Mustangs allowed another goal in the 77th minute. The Mustangs committed a foul inside the box, which allowed the Golden Panthers’ Dadi Kristjansson to score on a penalty kick.
The two-player advantage, however, proved to be just what the Mustangs needed. The Mustangs answered FIU’s penalty kick when Bruno Guarada capitalized on the Golden Panthers’ failure to clear the ball with his first goal of the season in the 79th minute.
After 90 minutes of action, the game remained tied at 2-2. Neither team scored in the first overtime, so the Mustangs had one last chance in the second overtime if they wanted to avoid their second tie of the season.
It did not take long for the Mustangs to break the tie. In the 102nd minute, Scott Geppert scored the game winner. In his fifth goal of the season, Geppert was assisted by Guarada who made a great pass to set up the goal just five yards out.
The Mustangs controlled the midfield and the tempo of the game with a 27-9 advantage in shots and a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks. They also showed toughness committing 24 of 39 fouls in the game.
The Mustangs remain undefeated with a record of 11-0-1 and are 1-0 in conference play. The Golden Panthers fall to 4-4-2 with their first conference loss of the season.
The Mustangs will play their second conference game against the Kentucky Wildcats (7-2-1) at 7 p.m. This will be the first Mustangs home game since Sept. 12.
