Ponies win 2-0

[mustangbill67]

SMU beat Missouri State at home 2-0 in men's soccer. The game was totally dominated by the Ponies who had 13 shots on goal to nil for MO State. We played great but could not finish. Schellas needs to recruit a goal scoring forward, someone who has the skill and vision to pick up loose balls in the box and put them in the net.

Our two goals came in second half, the first by Ben Shuleva and I believe the second by Richard Oliva. The team is really beat up with both Leone Cruz and Paulo Da Silva out for the season. Chad Bauman sat out the game after his red card in the Tulsa game and I believe starting defender Patrick Clendenny is also out with an injury but I do not know how serious it is. Jeff Harwell who played a great game iced down his knee when he came out close to the end of the game. I do not know if this was because of injury or if he does this normally. Jeff would be a major loss if cannot play. Freshman Tyler Williams came off the bench for several minutes and was injured be a hard tackle and left the game. I did not count how many were on the bench tonight but it looked like Schellas only suited out around 20 players including three keepers. Craig Hill started in goal in place of Streve Sandbo and did a good job although he was rarely pressured. A nice victory against a physical MO State team.

[PonyPride]

Re: the need for the scoring forward: very nice to see Scott Geppert rounding back into shape, and none too soon with Paulo da Silva on the shelf. Geppert has only played in a couple of games, but he has repeatedly gotten up over the defense for headers on corner kicks and free kicks - looks like he has better elevation than before the injury. If he's back in game shape by the time the NCAAs roll around, that will be a huge help.

Second goal by Oliva - he's now tied with Bruno Guarda for the team lead with four goals each. Oliva has really improved a lot since last season - another nice addition up front while Geppert gets stronger and with da Silva out.

Clendenny's injury is an ankle sprain, according to those SMU Soccer Insider videos that are linked up on this board. No idea how severe.

Nice to see Craig Hill get the shutout, although honestly SMU could have played with an empty net and pitched a shutout. That was as lopsided a 2-0 game as you'll ever see.