Men finish fourth in Mi Cocina Classic (Photo by John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)
The SMU men’s soccer team finished last among four teams in the 2005 Mi Cocina Men’s Soccer Classic last weekend at Westcott Field with a 4-2 loss to Saint Louis University and a 1-1 tie (2 OT) with Loyola Marymount.
The University of Tulsa (2-1-3) took home the title with four points, while the Saint Louis Billikens (2-3-1) placed second and Loyola Marymount Lions (1-2-2) took third. The Mustang’s record now stands at 2-3-1.
Although the Mustangs statistically dominated the Billikens Friday evening, outshooting Saint Louis 24-8 and putting 10 shots on goal to Saint Louis’ six, they weren’t able to put away several key opportunities, and the Billikens cashed in on a few half chances.
Saint Louis’ first goal came on one of those half chances in the 11th minute, when a deep throw in bounced around in the box until senior Ryan Wileman, older brother of SMU midfielder Chase Wileman, toe-poked the ball into the net. The Billikens doubled their lead just past the 31-minute mark when midfielder Alex Matteson volleyed home a Danny Wynn cross.
SMU cut the lead in half one minute 30 seconds later, when defender Jay Needham scored a header goal off of a corner kick. But substitute Larry Geraghty scored on one of his first touches of the game just two minute after that to reestablish a two goal lead.
The Billikens’ Kyle Patterson and the Mustangs’ Michael Uremovich each had second-half goals.
“We let in an early goal, and every kind of put their head down,” senior midfielder Kellan Zindel said. “We came back strong and got a few goals which helped, but we were just chasing from the beginning. I think if we stop letting in easy goals early, the whole season will improve from there on.”
Sunday’s game against Loyola Marymount was closer both statistically and on the scoreboard, resulting in a 1-1 tie after double overtime.
The Mustangs took the lead when senior Duke Hashimoto scored his second goal of the season in the 43rd minute when he slotted home a Zindel cross. But the Lions created heavy pressure in the second half and eventually drew a penalty kick for a shove, which senior Armando Melendez scored easily past SMU goalkeeper Steve Sandbo.
SMU caught a huge break when Lions defender Stephen Carlson was red-carded in the 85th minute for taking down midfielder Bruno Guarda, who would have been in alone save for the tackle. But the numbers were evened out nine minutes into overtime when SMU freshman Ryan Mirsky received his second yellow card of the game and was also thrown out.
Still, SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman saw some positives from his team’s performance this weekend.
“I think in the tournament, we were getting better, playing better,” said Hyndman. “We’re moving the ball and starting to understand our roles better and better. But I think they’re two things the soccer team and coaches are concerned about, and this weekend we did both. The first thing is to give up silly goals. And the other thing coaches don’t like is when you don’t put away chances.”
The team travels to Tulsa to play in the Golden Hurricane Classic next weekend and returns to Westcott Field Sept. 30 when they take on UAB to open their first season of C-USA play.
Men finish fourth in Mi Cocina Classic (Photo by John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)
