The SMU men’s soccer team earned the No. 6 seed in the 2011 NCAA men’s soccer championship and a first-round bye. The Mustangs will play the winner of Thursday’s Northwestern-Akron game at 7 p.m. Sunday at Westcott Field.

“They’re both great programs, and we have the utmost respect for both teams,” SMU head coach Tim McClements said. “That Akron-Northwestern game (which will be played at Akron) will be a barn-burner. It should be a great game.”

Senior defender Adam Still and the Mustangs have shut out five opponents in 2011 (photo by SMU athletics).

The Mustangs earned their ranking after winning the 2011 Conference USA tournament last week in Tulsa. The Ponies avenged a regular-season loss to UAB by shutting out the Blazers, 2-0, in the championship game Sunday afternoon. Forward Ben Hill and defender Aaron Simmons scored for the Mustangs, while goalkeeper Jaime Ibarra registered his second consecutive shutout and fifth of the season.

Before the Mustangs’ regular-season finale, McClements said he was hoping the offense would start to click after SMU had scored just one goal in the previous three games. The Ponies knocked off Memphis, 2-0, that night, and then scored seven in the C-USA tournament. In the finale against UAB, the offense was close to a more lopsided margin, as one shot hit the crossbar and three more clanged off the goalposts.

“When you’re in the final, the ultimate goal is the result, and we got that,” McClements said. “The big thing is that you want to score the go-ahead goal and then score another without conceding (an equalizer), because the way you approach the game changes with each event.

“The thing we were most happy about was the fact that we were generating a lot of chances, and a lot of quality chances. If you do that, you have a chance to score the goals you need to win games.”

The Mustangs landed four players on the All-Tournament team: Ibarra, midfielder T.J. Nelson, midfielder Arthur Ivo (Most Valuable Offensive Player) and defender Diogo de Almeida (Most Valuable Defensive Player). The unquestioned breakout performance was turned in by forward Ben Hill, who was playing in place of injured forward Juan Castillo and scored the game-winning goals in the semifinal against South Carolina and in the final against UAB.

“I don’t know about that, but I dreamt about it,” Hill said when asked if he expected such a performance. “A big aspect of any team’s success is confidence, and you have to take advantage of the chances you get. I was able to do that, and we were able to do that as a team.”

Ivo was the scoring star in the Mustangs’ first tournament game, picking up his first career hat trick (three goals) in SMU’s win over Marshall in the first round of the C-USA Tournament. He said Castillo’s absence allowed Hill to bring another element to the SMU offense.

“Ben brings something different to the game,” Ivo said.

Senior midfielder Arthur Ivo was named Offensive Most Valuable Player of the Conference USA Championship (photo by SMU athletics).

“He’s very strong and stays between the (goalposts). He does all the dirty work and is very good in the air — he gives us a good aerial target. He played great (in Tulsa), and it will be interesting to watch when we get Juan back, because we can score in different ways.”

“Ben gives us a totally different look than we have with Juan Castillo in there,” McClements said. “(Hill) is a very good back-to-the-goal player who gives us a really physical threat in front of the goal.”

If Hill has added another element to the SMU offense, Simmons has had a similar effect for the defense, where he joins three seniors — de Almeida, captain Adam Still and Ian Kalis — in the starting lineup. At a listed height of 6 feet tall, Simmons is one of the Mustangs’ taller players. While his goal Sunday was just his second of the season, his athleticism and leaping ability makes him a regular target on corner kicks and set pieces.

“Our defense has done really well all year,” Ivo said. “Diogo was a center back last year, and now he’s our left back and has been unbelievable — he was (Conference USA’s) Defensive Player of the Year. Ian has moved to right back and Adam and Aaron are in the middle. They have done a great job, and Jaime (Ibarra) has done a great job, too. He’s very calm and always on his game. We know he’ll come up big when we need him to.”

McClements has the Mustangs in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year; in 2010, the Mustangs reached the quarterfinals before tying North Carolina on the road and being eliminated in a penalty kick shootout. When he spoke after the selections were announced Monday afternoon, he had not yet had a chance to start studying the Akron and Northwestern teams, but said he knows either one will present a major challenge Sunday for the Mustangs.

“Northwestern (11-4-5) won the Big 10 title (in the regular season and in the conference’s postseason tournament),” McClements said. “(Northwestern coach Tim Lenehan’s) teams play with a lot of steel — they’re tough as nails — and you know that being at Northwestern, they’re really intelligent kids. Akron (13-3-4) has a great program, too. They won the national championship last year, and they really have had a great run in the last few years.

“Either one will be a tough way for us to start. Either one will give us a big challenge, because they’re both excellent teams.”