The Mustangs are off to a shaky start in their four-game away series. Over the weekend, SMU traveled to Huntington, W.Va to challenge the top Conference USA team; the Marshall University Herd.

“Disappointment is the word that describes this weekend”, head coach Tim McClements said.

The final score of the game was 4-1 in favor of the Herd. Tom Jackson scored Marshall’s first goal a little past 28:00 in the first half. Dustin Dawes scored for the Herd, and in the 73rd and 78th minutes of play, Zach Perkins and Matt Butler scored respectively for the home team. Finally, in the 81st minute of play, SMU Sophomore Joe Cooper scored off an assist from Payron Hickey.

This was Cooper’s third goal of the season and Hickey’s eighth assist, which leads C-USA in assists this season.

So far, the Mustangs have been very successful during goal kicks and other penalty shots; this was not the case Saturday. The mustangs earned seven corner kicks. Cooper’s goal came from a header off a free kick. “We had a penalty kick and missed it, things didn’t fall,” frustrated coach McClements said.

Putting this loss behind them, the Mustangs will travel to Columbia, S.C. to play South Carolina University Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. McClements said that the team plans to be on task defensively, use both ends of the field to their advantage and avoid “soft” goals.

“They are a good team, they have had some very good results this season,” McClements said about the abilities of South Carolina University.

Following Wednesday’s game, the Mustangs move on to Tulsa Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. and Kentucky Oct. 25 at 12 p.m. SMU will return home to play on Westcott Field against UCF at 7 p.m. Oct. 21.