Three hundred and counting…

Last night at Westcott Field two milestones were set.

Head coach Schellas Hyndman recorded his three hundredth careervictory with a four to nothing trouncing of visiting UTD.

Hyndman also smiled. Which was the more important of the twooccurrences depending on who you ask.

In Hyndman’s mind the relatively easy victory was no moreimportant than the other two hundred ninety-nine.

“The win is a nice statement,” Hyndman said.”But it is just another game, I’m just really pleasedat how well the boys played.”

The Mustang offense dominated play keeping the ball in theiroffensive third for the majority of the first half.

The game started off slow and remained scoreless heading intohalftime.

However, the offense was unable to finish and it looked asthough number 300 might just have to wait.

Then came the fireworks.

In the second half the scoring busted wide open thanks to anumber of offensive substitutions. Nine second-half substitutesgave the Ponies plenty of fresh legs to continue the offensivedominance.

In the fifty-third minute David Chun ignited the Mustang offenseafter receiving a feed from Ryan Latham just inside the box.

Chun settled the ball and tucked it into the corner for a one tonothing lead. Four minutes later Latham found the ball just outsidethe penalty area and drove the ball through a web of UTDdefenders.

Latham’s second point of the night gave the ponies a twoto nothing lead. In the sixty-sixth minute Mynor Gonzalez tailedthe first goal of his young collegiate career.

Gonzalez grabbed a loose ball deflected off a Comet defender anddrove it to the bottom corner of the net.

Duke Hashimoto rounded out the scoring with less than sixminutes remaining.

Hashimoto found himself all alone inside the six-yard box andslid home the final point under UTD keeper Adam Wooster.

The victory was only a minor component of a historical night inMustangs athletics.

Athletic Director Jim Copeland was on hand to present Hyndmanwith the game ball and a commemorative banner.

“What he has done for the men’s soccer programspeaks for itself in all of the post season appearances andawards,” Copeland said. “What people don’t see ishow great a corporate citizen he is for this athleticdepartment.”

The win helped Hyndman surpass former men’s basketballcoach Doc Hayes as the head coach with the most victories inMustang history.

Hyndman only needs two more wins to accumulate 400 as a headcoach.

With the Ponies next two matches against Centenary andEvansville it shouldn’t be long before Hyndman climbs to400.

Hyndman began his coaching career at his alma mater EasternIllinois. He spent seven years there before taking the Mustangcoaching job in 1984.

“The records are a sign of longevity, many coaches havebeen around as long as I have and just haven’t been in thefortunate situation I have been in,” he said.

“It shows how great the support has been from the athleticdepartment, they made this possible.”

Even as the victories mount, Hyndman still looks to bring theelusive national title to the Hilltop.

The title is the only award to escape Hyndman in his brilliantcareer.

Regardless, 300 is nothing to look past.