The No. 7 SMU Mustangs advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament after a 1-0 win over No. 12 William and Mary on Sunday night at Westcott Field.

 “It was a tough game,” SMU head Coach Tim McClements said. “I felt that we played really well at times and scored a great goal. I think William and Mary is a tremendous team, and they gave us everything we could handle.”

 SMU’s lone goal came in the 11th minute courtesy of midfielder Josue Soto who buried the ball in the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season. Mustang midfielder Robbie Derschang created the scoring opportunity after making a great defensive steal and pass to defender Ian Kalis who then found Soto for the goal.

 “Robbie [Derschang] had it on the left and he played right to me. I had my back turned, and I just saw that I had space,” Soto said. “Without thinking about it I just shot it and I was lucky enough to put it on target.”

The Mustangs held William and Mary to only three shots in the first half and prevented any kind of offensive flow from the Tribe.

William and Mary’s best chance to score came late in the second half when James Lofton hit a shot from inside the box that bounced off the top bar of the goal.

SMU survived a bit of a scare with 25 seconds remaining in the game when William and Mary midfielder Nathaniel Baako had a goal disallowed with after being ruled offside.

“I saw the referee pointing to the side instead of the middle so I knew it wasn’t a goal,” SMU goalkeeper Craig Hill said. “There was a moment of worry though.”

Despite missing top defender Diogo de Almeida in the backline due to injury, the Mustangs played solid defense throughout the game. Hill recorded three saves and the clean sheet.

 “Diogo de Almeida got hurt in the last game and we had to make the adjustment of moving Leone [Cruz] to the middle and moving TJ [Nelson] to the right back and I thought they did a great job along with Craig Hill,” McClements said.

 According to McClements the wind played a major role.

 “The wind was a factor in the game,” McClements said. “We chose to go with the wind and we went at them, and goal was to score as soon as possible.”

 Forward Juan Castillo had two chances to score one on one against Tribe goalkeeper Andrew McAdams but failed to convert. Midfielder Arthur Ivo led the team in shots with five and just missed giving the Mustangs a 2-0 lead late in the game.

 SMU will travel to take on North Carolina in the Elite 8 in Chapel Hill with the date and time to be determined.

“I’m excited to go to North Carolina,” Hill said. “It’s a really great atmosphere and I think the team has done well in front of larger crowds so I think going there really won’t have any effect on us.”