SMU forward Paolo daSilva goes up for the ball again Tulsa midfielder Justin Chavez in a 4-1 loss Sept. 27 at Westcott Field. (Stuart Palley)

The SMU men’s soccer team’s tough start in conference play continued last weekend, as they were defeated at the University of Memphis.

SMU, which was ranked No. 15 going into the game, lost 2-1 in overtime. The Mustangs have now lost three of their last four games and are 1-3-1 in their last five games.

The Mustangs were first to strike, as junior forward Dane Saintus scored off a Jeff Harwell pass in the 31st minute. The goal, which was scored from just outside the box, was Saintus’ third goal of the season.

The Mustangs held onto their 1-0 lead going into halftime.

The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the 70th minute, when Tripp Harkins scored on a header. The game stayed at 1-1 going into overtime.

The Tigers did not take long in extra time to finish the Mustangs off, as Michael Coburn scored the game winner in the 93rd minute on a header.

The Mustangs are 6-3-1 overall and 0-2 in conference. Memphis improved to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in conference.

While the Mustangs have not played well in the three losses and have missed key players with injuries­­­-including Paulo da Silva- teams have seemed to find the Mustangs’ weakness: playing over the top. Simply put, playing over the top means hitting the ball over the back line of the defense and chasing it down.

Head coach Tim McClements talked about this problem after the game, “What happens is when teams play direct they are getting a lot of opportunities on goal. They may not be quality opportunities, but they are getting a lot of balls in the penalty box and it just wears you down after a while. The thing that always counteracts that is if you score goals, and right now we haven’t been scoring the goals.”

This is not the first time the Mustangs have had to deal with tough times. In 2005, they lost three of their first five games before advancing to the Final Four.

“They have been through this before,” McClements said. “What they have to do is just stay together and play hard. A lot of the younger players are starting to step up and play well. As our injuries mount our depth also increases because we are able to get guys off the bench more times who haven’t played as much.”

The Mustangs won’t have to wait long to make up for their poor play, as they are back in action Wednesday against South Carolina. The game starts at 7 p.m. at Westcott Field.