Men open C-USA play with two wins (Photo by John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)

After some rocky non-conference games, the SMU men’s soccer team opened its first season of Conference-USA play with two straight wins last weekend at Westcott Field. The team posted two 2-1 victories, the first over UAB Friday evening and the second over Memphis on Sunday afternoon.

The Mustangs even their record at 4-4-2 with the two wins and are tied atop the conference after their first two games.

Sunday’s win over Memphis was in doubt until the final minutes of play. The Mustangs out-shot the Tigers 15-4 in the first half, with 11 of those shots on goal, but came away trailing 1-0 after Memphis goalkeeper Tyler Strom unleashed an 80-yard punt that sprung forwards Tripp Harkins and Andy Metcalf in a two-on-two. Harkins centered a pass to Metcalf, who easily tapped it in.

The halftime deficit was even more frustrating given that SMU was not only getting plenty of shots on goal, but was also creating quality chances that could have, and in some cases should have, been buried.

“It’s where we are,” SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman said. “We have no pure strikers. I think if you look at the stats, the shots would be something like 30-10, and we’re not able to score that goal. I have to credit the boys for not giving up and for not letting this get to overtime.”

SMU kept pressing in the second half, tallying another 13 shots and holding the Tigers to just two shots, but the clock quickly became its biggest enemy, as it couldn’t seem to find the back of the net.

But with just over two minutes remaining, sophomore midfielder Scott Corbin took a throw in deep in the zone that bounced to the feet of freshman midfielder Bruno Guarda. Guarda flicked it across the box to an unmarked Jordan Mann, who tapped the ball in for the equalizer.

Mann had entered the game justàminutes before in order to provide the Mustangs with a late burst of energy. Freshman Tim McRae was also a second-half substitute as coach Hyndman was looking for some flick on headers up the middle.

With about 30 seconds remaining in the game, Hyndman’s moves paid off again.

The ball was cleared up the middle of the field, and McRae put a flick-on header directly into the path of a streaking Duke Hashimoto. The senior managed to get wide of his defender and slot the ball to the lower corner with 16.7 seconds left in the game.

“This is a game we should win,” Hashimoto said. “We put enough effort and energy out there. When I got in one on one, I just slotted it home.”

Friday’s game against UAB wasn’t quite as dramatic. Hashimoto scored in the 12th minute when he headed home a Minor Gonzalez free kick. But near the end of the first half, the Blazers tied the game when Maurice Hughes took a shot that deflected past SMU goalkeeper Steve Sandbo.

SMU took the lead for good in the 65th minute when senior midfielder David Chun slipped the ball underneath the goalkeeper and into the net from a harsh angle.

The Mustang men’s soccer team will go on their first C-USA road trip next weekend when they travel east to take on Marshall and Kentucky. They return home to Westcott Field the following Friday at 7 p.m. when they face UCF.