Seventeen are freshmen; 12 are returning players, seven saw playing time in the season opener against Oklahoma State. But none scored as the Mustangs kicked off their season with a home game shutout.

The freshmen class may not have won their first college soccer game, but the experience they gained will hopefully help lead the team to a win at the end of the week.

“We don’t talk to the players about results right now,” head coach Brent Erwin explained. “We talk about playing correctly every time we go and play.”

Friday night marks a chance for the Mustangs’ to tie up their season record when they host Ole Miss at Westcott Field. But with 23 healthy players, 17 of which are freshmen, do the Mustangs have what it takes to defeat the No. 3 team in the SEC last season? Being on home turf will give the Mustangs an advantage, but Erwin remains confidant his team is more than prepared to take another tough regular season opponent.

“When you play at home you obviously want to play well because it’s your home,” said Erwin. “We’re the team you should want to support because the kids work hard.”

Fielding such a young team would make some coaches nervous, but after seeing great performances from freshman Dylan Jordan, Natalie Heintz, and Kaitlyn Eidson against OSU, Erwin will again look to the strength of his large recruiting class to help carry the Mustangs to their first win of the season.

“We’re pretty talented with our young players, and so they’ll always get a chance to play. It doesn’t matter to me how old a player is, I’ll always play them,” Erwin said. “I’ll always play whoever is playing the best.”

As for SMU senior goalkeeper Ashley Gunter, who let OSU slide three balls past her last week, Erwin said she is a very good player, and will perform just fine against Rebels.

“The kids are fine,” remarked Erwin. “We came second best to us, so I think the lesson from that is not that Oklahoma State is better than us, it’s that we need to play as well as we can play, and we need to come out and fight every time. We know we were our own issue, so we just have to take care of us, and we’ll be better off at this game.”

Friday’s game will begin at 7 p.m. at SMU’s Westcott Field.