SMU freshman defender Vicky Ascencio goes up for a header against USM on Sunday afternoon. (Stuart Palley)

The SMU women’s soccer team will play in their final regular season game this weekend before heading into the Conference USA Tournament next week. The 6-11-1 and 4-6 Mustangs will travel to Oklahoma to take on the 7-9-3 and 2-6-2 Golden Hurricane from the University of Tulsa in a Friday night showdown. Failing to qualify for the post season, Friday night’s game will mark the Golden Hurricanes last match of the season.

After a 4-0 sweep against Southern Miss last weekend, the Mustangs seem to be back on a winning streak heading into tomorrow night’s match up. Having won five of the last six meetings against the Golden Hurricane, the Mustangs look to shut out Tulsa for the third consecutive time after pulling off wins in both Dallas and Oklahoma in the past two years. Long time C-USA rivals, the Mustangs currently hold the overall winning record of 21-2-1 over Tulsa.

Failing to qualify for the conference tournament with only eight points, the Golden Hurricanes host SMU after dropping 3-0 to the University of Central Florida last week. Currently averaging just under two goals per game, the Golden Hurricane fall behind the Mustangs in all offensive and defensive categories. Led by junior forward Jennifer Kacergis with six goals and assists on the season, Tulsa has followed a similar winning pattern to the Mustangs, never forming more than a three game winning streak.

Leading the conference with 39 goals, Tulsa, despite their losing record, still poses a challenge to SMU.

“I think this week is another tough game because Tulsa has the ability to explode on the attack, but lately they have been very good defensively,” said head coach Brent Erwin.

Leading the Mustangs are freshmen midfielders Devon Herrman and Kaitlyn Eidson, and sophomore forward Lauren Shepherd, each with seven points so far. Freshman midfielder Mary Connally and the injured senior forward Caitlin Carter lead the team with three goals apiece. Herrman, Shepherd, and freshmen forward Logan May and midfielder Dylan Jordan and sophomore defender Kristin Medeiros each have two. Currently, SMU averages 1.83 goals per game, 15.5 shots per game compared to Tulsa’s 12.2 shot count.

As for the Golden Hurricane’s defense, senior goalkeeper Kendall Harclerode has 82 saves on the season putting her in the No.1 spot for most saves in the conference, and placing in second place with six shutouts. Compared to the combination of SMU freshman goalkeeper Courtney Webb with 47 saves and 11 goals allowed, and senior Ashley Gunter with 50 saves and 21 allowed goals, Harclerode has allowed only 24 goals past in 1,775 minutes of play.

We’ve got to go [to Tulsa] and be at our best,” said Erwin. “We’re definitely eyeing the tournament because we need to go there and win it, but we’re giving all of our attention to Friday’s game.”

The Mustangs will travel to Houston next week to play in the Conference USA Tournament Nov. 5-9 at Rice Soccer Stadium.

Freshman midfielders Katherine Cox and Courtney Messina fight for the ball against USM on Sunday afternoon. (Stuart Palley)