Men's Soccer - SMU vs. Missouri State

by **DanFreibergerForHeisman** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:36 pm

The No. 21 SMU Mustangs are in action Friday night at Westcott in a non-conference match against Missouri State - start time is 7pm.

http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/101911aab.html

Missouri State Bears (6-5-2, 3-0-0 MVC) at No. 21 SMU Mustangs (8-4-1, 3-1-1 C-USA)
Oct. 21 - 7 p.m. CT
Westcott Field - Dallas, Texas

I imagine the interesting thing will be who plays for SMU. Missouri State has an RPI ranking of 121 so this one could be fun for the home fans. Hopefully there will be a nice, large, raucous Friday night crowd!

by **Dutch** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 7:11 am

Go ponies

by **Soccer15** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 10:55 am

Can't take Missouri State lightly. The beat #4 Creighton 1-0 last week!

by **DanFreibergerForHeisman** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 10:45 pm

SMU won 1-0! Diogo de Almeida again in the 60th minute or so.

It was a pretty tame effort from SMU - the de Almeida goal was only the second shot on goal for the Mustangs on the night.

The game was a bit feisty at times. SMU took one yellow and Missouri State took three.

The only regulars who did not play were Ivo and Still - so the team appears to be much more healthy than one would have thought after the FIU match.

Nice win for SMU.

by **PonyPride** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:41 pm

True â€” Ivo and Still sat out. But Derschang wasn't 100 percent, and Barnes looked like he still felt some soreness ... and appeared to be the top target in Missouri State's gameplan -- he was getting hit all night. When he finally left with a little over 3 minutes left, it looked like he had been in a street fight, or at least at the bottom of the pile in a rugby scrum -- very talented player, and one tough SOB.

Derschang is an amazing athlete. For someone who wasn't 100 percent, he smoked several defenders with quick moves and with pure speed down the sideline. When he's healthy, he's really something to watch.

Juan Castillo continues to impress. The Ponies played with just one forward â€” Castillo â€” for much of the night, and Castillo sometimes found himself going one-on-three or even one-on-four. He's not the biggest guy in the world (SMU website lists him at 5-8, 157), and he constantly gets attention from multiple defenders in every game. FIU got so frustrated Sunday with Castillo making their defense look bad that they literally threw him over the end line in the final minutes. Tonight was more of the same: he didn't score, but some Missouri State defenders looked pretty silly trying to keep up with him.

Diogo de Almeida has been sensational. He came to SMU as a forward, moved to midfield and now is one of the anchors of the defense ... and has become a scoring threat again. Plus, he has emerged as a policeman of sorts, sorting things out when play gets physical. If he's not first-team all-conference this year (or even better), they should do away with the award. Castillo and Ivo score the most, so they'll always get the most headlines (and they deserve all the attention they get), but de Almeida has been sensational.

Beating Missouri State is a good win; that's a team that just beat #4 Creighton. The fact that SMU beat the Bears without Ivo and Still is outstanding. Picture the football team beating a good team without ... Zach Line and Ja'Gared Davis -- that's how talented Ivo and Still are.

This team has endured a ridiculous schedule. Hopefully it pays off in the postseason.