SMU sophomore forward Lauren Sheperd puts the ball out of bounds against USM on Sunday afternoon. (Stuart Palley)
In the final full weekend of Conference USA play for the Mustangs, the SMU women’s soccer team split another pair of weekend games, putting them at 6-11-1 overall and 4-6 in C-USA. After dropping their third loss in a row to the University of Central Florida on Friday, SMU turned around to defeat the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a 4-0 shutout at home on Sunday for Senior Day.
Senior defender Carly Phillips ended her final game at Westcott Field with the game-winning goal in the seventh minute, heading a goal into the upper right corner of the net. Freshman Logan May was credited with the assist. On Phillip’s first goal of the season, head coach Brent Erwin called the goal “incredible.”
“That’s the best goal I’ve seen her score since I’ve been here,” said Erwin. “It was placed perfectly, and she hit it with such force. It was appropriate that one of our seniors got the game-winner.”
The Mustangs got their second goal in the 15th minute from freshman Sarah Catherine Ryan when the 5’2 forward knocked in her first goal of the season after receiving a pass from teammate sophomore forward Lauren Shepherd who collected the ball from freshman midfielder Kaitlyn Eidson.
Up 2-0 heading into the second half, the Mustang offense posted two more points on the board when Eidson was credited with her second assist of the game after freshman Mary Connally knocked in a rebounded pass of a Southern Miss defender in the 76th minute. The fourth and final point came courtesy of Connally in the 80th minute after the Texas native beat the Golden Eagles goalkeeper to the net.
Freshman goalkeeper Courtney Webb started in goal for the Mustangs, adding two saves to her total. Senior goalkeeper Ashley Gunter saw some playing time as well, posting one save against Southern Miss. The Mustangs outshot the Golden Eagles 9-8 in the first half, but only got three shots on goal in the second half compared to Southern Miss’ nine.
The Mustangs were handed their seventh shutout of the season, when UCF’s sophomore midfielder Lauren Halbert scored the match’s lone goal of the game in the 27th minute, giving her team the only point they would need for their second consecutive win, and final home game of the season. Halbert’s second goal of the season came off a corner kick from teammate Becca Thomas from three yards away.
SMU kicked off the game with the first two shots on goal in the opening minutes, but a combined effort from the Knight’s junior midfielder Becca Thomas, forward Yvonne George and senior forward Danielle Dos Santos, the Knights quickly managed to outshoot the Mustangs ten to six in the first half alone. SMU added another six shots on goal in the second half, but the Knights’ shot count more than doubled the Mustang’s offensive effort with 14 shots on goal.
Shepherd led the Mustangs with five shots, followed by May with three shots. Still missing the presence of the team’s other leading scorer, senior forward Cailtin Carter, the Mustangs continued to struggle in getting points on the board.
Webb started on goal for the sixth time as a Mustang, posting one goal in the first half, along with letting one goal slip through. UCF freshman goalkeeper Aline Reis had her work cut out for her, having to make six saves in the first half, and three in the final 45 minutes.
Still in the running for the conference tournament, the Knights are still on track to a repeat in not only the C-USA Tournament, but the NCAA Tournament as well. Overall, the Mustangs dropped to 3-4-0 against the Knights, after losing to the Florida team in the last three meetings, including this season.
Friday’s loss to the UCF Knights knocked the Mustangs down to 5-11-1 overall and 3-6-0 in Conference USA. However, with the win over Southern Miss, the Mustangs improved to 12 points on season, putting them at the No.8 spot in C-USA polls, and still in the running for the Conference USA Tournament.
The Mustangs will compete in their last game of the regular season on Friday when they travel to Oklahoma to take on the 7-9-3 and 2-6-2 Golden Hurricanes from the University of Tulsa.
