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Men's soccer: #1 SMU 4, Eastern Illinois 0

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Men's soccer: #1 SMU 4, Eastern Illinois 0

Postby PonyPride » Sat Oct 27, 2001 1:27 am

Senior forward Luis "Luchi" Gonzalez scored a pair of sensational goals to lead the top-ranked SMU men's soccer team to a 4-0 victory over Eastern Illinois. With the win, the Mustangs (13-0 overall, 6-0 against Missouri Valley Conference opponents) retained the nation's only undefeated, untied record.

Prior to the game, SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman was honored by Eastern Illinois, his alma mater and the school at which he coached prior to his arrival at SMU.

Friday's game started with a scare, when SMU goalkeeper Byron Foss collided with EIU forward Jason Thompson while chasing a loose ball. Foss got the ball out of bounds before crumpling to the ground with a charley horse after taking a knee to the thigh.

On the other end of the field, EIU netminder Jacob Billingsley was sensational, making numerous point-blank saves, including five saves on shots by Gonzalez. But the Ponies got on the scoreboard in the 67th minute when senior medfielder Bret Corbin sent a long cross from the left flank that found its way to the net -- only to have Billingsley drop it into the goal. Just under two minutes later, Corbin flicked another centering pass from the left, and this time Gonzalez cranked it into the net to put SMU ahead, 2-0. Gonzalez and freshman Jake Jackson scored the final two unassisted goals to account for the final score.

"We had a lot of chances in the first half, and we talked at halftime about playing quicker," Hyndman said. "They were playing a man down (defender Kurtis Schart was ejected on a pair of first-half yellow cards for hard tackles), and we wanted to put the pressure on them to break them down. Their goalkeeper played so well, made so many great saves, and then he drops (Corbin's goal) in. That opened things up."

The most dominant player on the field Friday night, Gonzalez admitted to a level of frustration after seeing Billingsley -- or in one case the crossbar -- keep him off the scoresheet for the first two-thirds of the game.

"Yeah, it was frustrating," Gonzalez said. "We ran into a hot goalie who had a good game. He made soem great saves. But when Bret scored that first one, we were able to break down some barriers."

Gonzalez also was at the center of the game's most physical play, when he got taken down when EIU's Thompson hit Gonzalez in the shoulderblade with an elbow and then swung his foot at Gonzalez' leg. Gonzalez went down hard, and players came together as tension mounted. Foss -- the biggest player on the field at 6-6, 220, had to be restrained from going after Thompson and was quickly replaced in the lineup by freshman netminder T.J. Tomasso.

"I wasn't worried about Byron (getting thrown out)," Gonzalez said. "It's nice to know he's got my back."
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