SMU’s Allison Brill (right) and Tulsa’s Melissa Hailey (left) go for the ball during the first round of the C-USA conference tournament last season. (John Schreiber)

This weekend, the SMU women’s soccer team will attempt to prove why they were voted as the preseason favorite of winning the Conference USA Women’s Soccer Champion this fall. The Mustangs take on the Sooners from the University of Oklahoma at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Westcott Field.

The Mustangs defeated Texas A&M Commerce last Sunday in a 4-2 victory at Westcott Field. Prior to defeating TAMC, juniors Ashley Gunter and Carley Phillips and senior Kimber Bailey were named members of the Preseason All-Conference USA Team. After being selected by league coaches as a strong leader in Conference USA, SMU placed the most players on the conference team this year out of other contending teams.

The team lost four seniors, including leading scorer Olivia O’Rear, but were fortunate enough to lose only two other members. The Mustangs have eight returning members, but with seven freshmen on the roster, there is sure to be a great amount of new talent prevalent at Sunday’s game, as well as throughout the regular season.

The coaching roster also underwent some changes with the addition of three new coaches. Head coach Brent Erwin will be accompanied by assistant coach Kyle Mittendorf, goalkeeper coach Joe Waggoner and SMU alumna and conditioning coach Erin MacCullum. The addition of these new specialty coaches is sure to produce promising results for the team.

SMU will be OU’s first game of the season, but will still prove to be a tough opponent. The Sooners could pose a possible challenge to the Mustangs with one of the most talented goalies in OU history returning to the net this season. Head Coach Randy Evans also moved the team’s leading midfielder to defender in order to solidify OU’s defense.

Admission to Sunday’s preseason game is free. The women’s season opener will be on Aug. 31 against Texas- San Antonio at Westcott Field at 5:30 p.m.