Men's Soccer Tops Virginia, Wins Tournament Title

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com

Men's Soccer Tops Virginia, Wins Tournament Title
Gabe Arredondo leads Mustangs with goal, two assists


CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (SMU) - Senior midfielder Gabe Arredondo scored a goal and assisted on two more to lead the SMU men's soccer team to a 3-1 victory over host University of Virginia. The victory, coupled with SMU's win over Old Dominion, gave SMU the championship in the University of Virginia Classic Tournament.

Arredondo put the Ponies on the board in the 33rd minute, when he converted an assist from freshman forward Arthur Ivo to give SMU a 1-0 lead that held up through the rest of the first half.

Nearly halfway through the second half, Arredondo helped set up the last goal the Mustangs would need, feeding senior forward Paulo de Silva, who then found junior forward Dane Saintus with a pass for what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 68th minute from 12 yards out.

Arredondo then set up an insurance goal in the 72nd minute, collecting his fourth point of the night when he assisted on da Silva's first goal of the season.

Junior goalkeeper Craig Hill turned away five shots in the victory for the Mustangs, whose record improved to 2-0-0.

The Mustangs now return home before heading west to Berkeley, Calif., for the Cal Legacy Classic, in which they will play the Stanford Cardinal at 3:30 p.m. (central time), Friday, Sept. 5, and then face the Cal Bears at 4:30 p.m. (CT), Sunday, Sept. 7.

The Mustangs open the home portion of their schedule the following Friday, Sept. 12, when they host George Mason University. For a complete schedule and ticket information, log on to SMUMustangs.com or call 214-SMU-GAME.

[Charleston Pony]

good start for the one SMU squad that is "relevant" these days

[MustangLaxer]

shellas who?

[Oldkeeper]

Yeah, let's dwell on the coaching issue some more....

[redpony]

I am very happy that we are off to a good start. The coaching issues and selection will remain until this team has exceeded the quarter finals of the national championships this year. Two good games do not a season make.

GO PONIES!!!

[MustangLaxer]

thats not dwelling, thats enthusiasm for the new regime

[EastStang]

We won a game against a chippy opponent. These are the types of games that we've lost in the past. I see this as an encouraging sign from our new regime. Once you get to the tournament, there are all kinds of variables that can occur. Look at our run to the semi-finals a couple of years ago. We barely got in the tournament. Then we beat UNC, UCLA and UNC-Greensboro to get to the finals. By all respects UNC and UCLA had clearly superior teams, but they lost to us. Then we got manhandled by Maryland in the semis. The following year we went in at No. 1, got a 4 seed and lost to the eventual champion UCSB in a yellow card filled game. Anything can happen once you get to the NCAA tournament.

[indianmustang]

happy for the team ,good to have a winning start in football

[Lefty]

I am very happy that we are off to a good start. The coaching issues and selection will remain until this team has exceeded the quarter finals of the national championships this year. Two good games do not a season make.

GO PONIES!!!

What a finite definition of coach selection. By that standard, Schellas Hyndman wasn't a good coach, either, because we didn't exceed (surpass?) the quarterfinals last year.

Glad Steve-O looks at things a little more in-depth than that.

[redpony]

[quote="Lefty ]What a finite definition of coach selection. By that standard, Schellas Hyndman wasn't a good coach, either, because we didn't exceed (surpass?) the quarterfinals last year.

Glad Steve-O looks at things a little more in-depth than that.[/quote]

Lefty- Schellas did get us there on one or two occasions. IMHO it was time for a coaching change. No national titles in 24 yrs is really not acceptable. My comments were directed specifically at McClements because he has little major university head coaching experience, an unproven record and IMHO was selected in haste because SO had been too occupied trying to get the AD job at ND. I doubt very seriously if SO looked at this situation in very much depth. I have to believe that it would have been possible to obtain a coach with national championship credentials and a proven record of winning if due diligence had been performed.
I hope McClements proves to be a great success but if he fails we need to make a change without hesitation.

GO PONIES!!!

[gk00dad]

Lefty- Schellas did get us there on one or two occasions. IMHO it was time for a coaching change. No national titles in 24 yrs is really not acceptable. My comments were directed specifically at McClements because he has little major university head coaching experience, an unproven record and IMHO was selected in haste because SO had been too occupied trying to get the AD job at ND. I doubt very seriously if SO looked at this situation in very much depth. I have to believe that it would have been possible to obtain a coach with national championship credentials and a proven record of winning if due diligence had been performed.
I hope McClements proves to be a great success but if he fails we need to make a change without hesitation.

Okay redpony we all hear you loud and clear. Win or lose you won't be happy until or unless McClements fall on his face. By the way my A. D. wanna be, who's on your short list that we have a realistic chance of prying away from their program? And remember, by your own standards they will have had to at least won a title.

[redpony]

Okay redpony we all hear you loud and clear. Win or lose you won't be happy until or unless McClements fall on his face. By the way my A. D. wanna be, who's on your short list that we have a realistic chance of prying away from their program? And remember, by your own standards they will have had to at least won a title.

Gk00dad- Sorry but your comments are incorrect. I do not wish for McClements to fail. I was unhappy with the coaching decision because I felt our program deserved a coach with much better credentials. Had SO done as well with the soccer coach selection as he did with the football coach selection I would have no concerns. Our soccer program has been one of the few successful programs for the last 15-20 years and I do not wish to see it fall into disarray like many of our other programs have. Perhaps my goals and standards for this program are just slightly higher than others on this forum.
BTW, I am most certainly not an “AD wannabeâ€

[gk00dad]

point taken. But I will end the coaching debate with this. Bruce Arenas was the greatest coach that Virginia ever had. Took over a poor USA program and turned it around, Was very successful with DC United. He had great talent in New York with the Red Bulls and failed miserably. His turn around program with the Galaxy is at least a year away. Past success, though an indicator, does not guarantee future success. Bob Bradley another case in point. Following in Bruce Arenas footsteps, has had moderate success, but you still hear how poor of a hire he is and he hasn't even had a chance to field his first world cup team. All I'm saying is, let's give Tim a chance to put his imprint on the team. Wether we win the title this year or not is less important than setting the foundation for long term success. By the way, I personally think we'll make the final four this year. Once there anything can happen, look at Ohio State.