Senior Paulo da Silva aims to shoot the ball past an opposing defender. MICHAEL DANSER/The Daily Campus

With the weekend’s disappointments behind them, the SMU men’s soccer team is ready to battle against the Centenary Gents on Westcott Field, Wednesday at 7 p.m. Head coach Tim McClements said he is optimistic about this week’s game.

“We’re excited to play, we didn’t feel like we did ourselves justice on Sunday … Hopefully we will springboard ourselves into conference play,” he said.

Wednesday’s game will be important for the Mustangs to gain momentum before playing conference games, which will ultimately influence their positioning for post-season play in the spring.

The Mustangs currently have a season record of 3-4-1, and this will be the last home non-conference game for the team. The Gents have a season record of 2-5-1. The Mustangs and Gents last played in 2007 at Westcott Field. Overall, the Mustangs are 16-0 against Centenary.

In the 2007 match-up Mustang stand-outs, midfielder Richard Oliva and forward Dane Saintus, both scored against the Gents. This season Saintus is tied with teammate Payton Hickey for the most assists on the team. Hickey is ranked 17th in the nation for assists after his fifth assist over the weekend against Missouri State.

After Wednesday’s game, the Mustangs will host one last game at Westcott against Memphis on Oct. 4, before embarking on a four-game road trip. On the road, the Mustangs will play Marshall, South Carolina, Tulsa and finally Kentucky before returning home to host UCF on Oct. 31 and the Florida International on Nov. 7.

According to McClements, the team feels comfortable at home on their own field and with their own fans supporting them. With limited time before the Mustangs hit the road, they hope to see a crowd cheering them on and sending them.