In a game that can only be described as controversial, the SMU men’s soccer team was knocked out of the C—USA tournament by Tulsa on penalty kicks Wednesday night at Westcott Field.
The Mustangs (10—5—2), who were seeded first in the tournament, had beat the eighth-seeded Golden Hurricane (6—6—7) in Tulsa earlier this season, and now must rely on an at large bid if they hope to make the NCAA tournament. The 64—team field will be announced next week.
As with their previous game, the two teams failed to score in the first half. Tulsa opened in the scoring in the 53rd minute, when midfield Daniel Wasson was left alone in the box and received a perfect cross from Eric Burkholder. Wasson headed the ball down into the net past SMU goalkeeper Matt Wideman.
But, the Mustangs answered just eight seconds later off of the kickoff. Freshman Paolo da Silva tapped the ball to Duke Hashimoto, who sprung da Silva on a breakaway up the middle of the field.
Junior midfielder Dario Saintus put SMU up 2—1 in the 74th minute when Hashimoto fed him in the middle of the box at the end of a long run. Junior Jay Needham fed Hashimoto for the break.
But, two minutes later, the Golden Hurricane were awarded a questionable penalty kick, when Wideman jumped over a Tulsa forward at the side of the penalty box to punch away.
Referee Abdu Bensalah said Wideman had pushed the Tulsa player down to get to the ball, although it appeared the contact was incidental. Kyle Brown scored on the penalty kick for the Hurricane.
The game remained tied through two overtimes, with both teams creating quality chances to end the game. Tulsa outshot SMU 5—2 in the overtime with a 2—1 advantage in shots on goal.
In the penalty kick shootout, each team hit its first four shots, but Needham had his attempt parried wide by Tulsa goalkeeper Dominic Cervi, and Hurricane midfielder Lawson Vaughn put his shot past Wideman to win the shootout.
Cervi, a looming presence at 6—foot-6-inches, was Tulsa’s best player in the game, making four saves and disrupting the SMU offense all game.
In other scores, No. 3 seed UAB (10—7—1) was upset 2—1 by the No. 6 seed Memphis Tigers (8—7—2) in the first game of the afternoon. The two top-scoring teams in C—USA played without a goal for nearly 30 minutes when Tiger freshman Tripp Harkins scored off a scramble in the box. UAB tied the score in the 67th minute, but a Blazer own goal in the 81st minute put Memphis up for good.
The second-seeded South Carolina (10—6—2) team received a scare of its own when seven-seed Kentucky (6—7—6) forced a penalty kick shootout after playing to a 0—0 tie through two overtimes. The Gamecocks won the shootout 3—1 and will play Memphis Friday afternoon.
And, in the third game of the evening, fifth-seeded Marshall (8—8—2) beat Florida International (8—7—2) 2—0. The Thundering Herd took the lead in the first half on an Osric Flores goal. In the second half, junior midfielder Nicholas Ademolu made a beautiful run from his half of the field and scored from the top of the box to seal the win.
The semifinal games, held Friday evening at Westcott Field, will be Memphis—South Carolina and Marshall—Tulsa. The winner of the championship game Sunday will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
