Men's Soccer To Face No. 24 Tulsa In AAC Semifinals

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Men's Soccer To Face No. 24 Tulsa In Conference Semifinals
The Mustangs Are 1-1 Against Tulsa In 2014

Nov. 11, 2014

The Week Ahead...
The stage is set for the American Athletic Conference semifinals as the third-seeded Mustangs will face the second-seed and 24th-ranked Tulsa in semifinal action on Friday. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m. CT with live stats and video links available at SMUMustangs.com. The match will be available free of charge on the American Digital Network. Jonathan Yardley and Tony DiCicco have the call.

On The National Stage...
SMU ranks in the top 25 nationally in points per game (13th, 5.94), scoring offense (14th, 2.06), goals (14th, 35), points (15th, 101), assists per game (10th, 1.82) and assists (24th, 31). Individually, freshman Jared Rice is 13th in assists (8) and 16th in assists per game (0.47). Junior Idrissa Camara is 40th in match winners with three, which ties him for a conference high.

Scouting The Golden Hurricane...
Tulsa enters the semifinal match-up with a 10-5-2 overall record after finishing the regular season at 9-5-2. In the first round of The American tournament, TU defeated Cincinnati, 1-0, in Tulsa. Ray Saari and Akiel Barrett each have 14 points (6g, 2a) to lead the Golden Hurricane, while Austin Neal has a team-high five assists. Jake McGuire has played in the net on 13 occasions this season posting a 1.08 goals-against-average with 53 saves and four shutouts.

Series History...
SMU is 28-8-3 all-time against Tulsa, including a 1-1 mark during the 2014 season. The Mustangs took the first meeting of the year, 4-2, at Westcott Field, while TU evened the score at its home complex with a 1-0 win. The teams have met each other six times in conference tournament action with the Ponies posting a 3-2-1 advantage.

Share The Credit...
Thirteen different players have accounted for the Mustangs' league-leading 35 goals this season, with junior Idrissa Camara leading the way with seven, while redshirt-senior Damian Rosales has six and junior John Lujano has four. Eleven different players have also posted assists for SMU, including a team-leading eight from freshman Jared Rice, and five from classmate Bryce Clark. Of the Mustangs ten wins this season, seven different players have netted the winning goal.

American Favorites...
SMU has had a player selected as at least a member of the American Athletic Conference weekly honor for all 10 weeks of the regular season. Four Mustangs have been selected as the rookie of the week (Joseph, Cichero, Rice & Clark), two have earned defensive honors (Clark & Rice) and Garcia was an offensive selection. Michael Nelson is a four-time honor roll selection honoree.

Making History...
In the Mustangs’ conference tournament opener, John Lujano converted on a penalty kick which tied him for the seventh fastest goal in NCAA history based on goals from the start of the 2014 season. Just 10 seconds in junior Idrissa Camara was fouled inside UCF's 18-yard box to set up the opportunity for Lujano.

The Madness Continues...
Five SMU men's soccer players were honored on College Sports Madness All-American Athletic Conference teams, the organization announced on Monday.

Redshirt-freshman Michael Nelson was named the top goalkeeper in The American as he earned first team honors for his efforts during 2014. The Katy, Texas, native has started all 17 matches for the Mustangs, who are headed to the semifinals of the AAC tournament this week, and has the second-best goals-against-average in the conference at 0.92 and is third in save percentage at .775. Nelson also has 55 saves this season and five shutouts, which ties him for second in the conference.

Nelson has been named to the conference weekly honor roll a team-high four times this season.

The Mustangs' leading goal scorer was also honored on the first team. Junior forward Idrissa Camara, who is in his first season with the team, has a team-high seven goals and 15 points. The Denver native has three match-winners, which ties him for first in the conference, and is also third in goals and goals-per-game.

CSM also honored three players on its second team, including junior John Lujano and freshmen Jared Rice and Bryce Clark.

Lujano is third on the team in goals this season at four, with all four coming off of penalty kicks. His most recent went down as the match winner in SMU's 4-0 win over UCF in the first round of the AAC tournament. Lujano also has two assists this season.

Rice and Clark have had an impressive initial collegiate season starting every match for SMU on the back line. The pair has contributed to six shutouts and a 0.91 goals-against-average. Rice has a team-high eight assists ranking him 13th nationally. Both have been named the conference rookie and defensive player of the week in 2014.

No Place Like Home...
The Mustangs finished the 2014 regular season with an 8-1-1 record on the Hilltop, and added a conference tournament victory to improve them to nine wins. In conference matches, SMU went undefeated at 3-0-1. In the goals category, SMU had a 31-7 advantage, and held its opponents to only 29 shots on goal.

Conference History...
The Mustangs are now 14-7-6 all-time in conference tournament games.

League Leaders...
As a team, the Mustangs lead the American Athletic Conference in points per game (5.94), save percentage (.775), scoring offense (2.06), goals-against-average (0.91), goals (35) and are tied in winning percentage (.647).

Eye On The RPI...
SMU currently ranks 79th in the latest NCAA Division I RPI report. The Mustangs are one of four teams in the top 100 from the conference with Tulsa at 40, USF at 51 and Connecticut at 52.

Around The Region...
The Mustangs currently sit fifth in the latest edition of the NCAA East Region poll. Tulsa (1st) and Connecticut (3rd) are ranked in the top three, while USF (7th) and Memphis (10th) also made an appearance.

Chasing 150...
Prior to SMU's 4-0 victory over UCF in The American quarterfinals, Head Coach Tim McClements was on the hunt for his 150th victory. The shut out gave McClements 68 wins at SMU to reach 150 in his career.

Looking Back...
Senior Damian Rosales scored a pair of goals to help lead the third-seeded SMU men's soccer team over the No. 6 seed UCF, 4-0, on Saturday evening at Westcott Field. The win put the Mustangs in double figures for the season improving the team to 10-5-2, while UCF finished the 2014 season with a 2-10-6 record.

SMU moves on to face the No. 2 seed, Tulsa, at 4:30 p.m. CT on Friday in Storrs, Connecticut, for the American Athletic Conference semifinals. The Mustangs are 1-1 against Tulsa in 2014.

The Mustangs wasted no time getting the game winner in the match, as junior Idrissa Camara brought the ball down the center of the field off the opening touch and was fouled inside the UCF 18-yard box to set up a penalty kick just 10 seconds in. Fellow junior John Lujano was called to the spot for the fourth time this season and converted with a shot to the lower right corner for the goal. Lujano also scored the tying goal on a penalty kick in the teams' first meeting this season and is a perfect four-for-four during the current campaign.

Rosales got on the board next for the Mustangs with markers in the 10th and 33rd minutes. Assists on both goals were credited to sophomore Stanton Garcia, with senior Andrew Morales adding a touch as well on the second goal.

The final tally of the game was redshirt-freshman Anthony Jeffries second of the season, as he connected with freshman Jared Rice on a header off a corner kick in the 45th minute. Rice now has a team-high eight assists this season.

Despite the score, the teams were even in shots with 11 apiece; however the Mustangs had more quality chances with seven shots on goal to the Knights' four. Lujano, Rosales and Garcia each had a pair for SMU.

Goalkeeper Michael Nelson picked up his fifth shutout of the season as he registered four saves, and improved his goals-against-average to 0.92.

[fifty]

Rough draw for the 2nd round.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

I am really looking forward to this one!

Go Mustangs!

[PonySnob]

Where is the game being played?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[fifty]

Uconn

[bubba pony]

with the expected weather more like Yukon

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Current Friday forecast is a high of 43 and mostly sunny.

Probably in the 30s by game time and certainly in the 30s during most of the game.

[PonySnob]

Current Friday forecast is a high of 43 and mostly sunny.

Probably in the 30s by game time and certainly in the 30s during most of the game.

Similar to the football game in Dallas on Saturday.

[pwnyxpress]

Thanks "Polar Vortex"

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Based on the latest forecast, it looks like it will be well into the 30s by game time, falling to near 32 by the end of the match. Light north wind with no precipitation.

[fifty]

It will be the same weather here

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Tulsa scores to go up 1-0 with around 10 minutes left in the first half.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Tulsa up 1-0 at the half.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

30 minutes left. Still 1-0 Tulsa.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Tulsa up 2-0. 17 minutes left.