VIDEO: men's soccer blanks No. 6 St. Louis, 1-0

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VIDEO: SMU men's soccer head coach Kevin Hudson, midfielder Jaylinn Mitchell and defender Cesar Ruvalcaba met the media after Mitchell scored the only goal to lead SMU past No. 6 St. Louis, 1-0.

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mitchell Match Winner, SMU Defeats No. 6 Saint Louis

DALLAS (SMU) — SMU Men’s Soccer Sophomore Jaylinn Mitchell scores his first goal of the season in SMU's win 1-0 over No. 6 Saint Louis, Thursday. The Mustangs remains undefeated with a 2-0-1 record to start the 2024 season.

SMU improved their record against Saint Louis to 18-14-7. The Mustangs have won all their meetings with the Billikens at Washburne Stadium (3-0-0) without conceding a single goal.

The Mustangs' defensive line showed their prowess by recording their second clean sheet of the season while only allowing three shot attempts by the Billikens.

"It's a collective effort. It's more than just four or five guys, we’re all committed to defending and limiting their chances," said Cesar Ruvalcaba. "If we can keep their chances to zero, it's likely that we can come out with the win or a tie."

Kyran Chambron Pinho was back in the starting lineup for the Mustangs after missing the first two matches of the season. He contributed to Mitchell's goal and led SMU with four shots through 58 minutes played.

"I would argue with anybody that (Chambron Pinho) is one of the best left wing backs in college soccer," said head coach Kevin Hudson. "When he is taking on his defender the strikers better run into the box because he'll deliver a good pass."

How It Happened
SMU resumed their trend of dominating offense by taking the first initiative with a barrage of three shots led by Jaylinn Mitchell in the 14th minute.

The Mustangs remained on the offensive, outshooting the Billiken's 11-1 in the first half, but the scoreline remained blank at the break.

Three minutes into the second half, the Mustangs took the lead through Mitchell's shot off Bailey Sparks' blocked volley. Chambron Pinho created the goal-scoring opportunity by beating his defender on the left wing and setting up Sparks' shot.

"I knew that once (Chambron Pinho) got the ball on the line that he will beat his (defender)," said Mitchell. "I just tried to put myself in a good position."

The goal was Mitchell's second goal in his career as a Mustang. He scored his first SMU goal on his debut match against UTRGV on Aug. 24, 2023.

The Mustangs held on to the lead by only allowing two shot attempts from the Billikens in the second half.

Other Notes
SMU improves to 9-6-5 at home against Saint Louis. They have outscored the Billikens 5-0 through three matches at Washburne Stadium.
No. 6 SLU is the third-highest ranked team that Hudson has defeated. He has wins over no. 2 Duke (Sept. 16, 2019) and no. 5 UCF in the 2019 American Athletic Conference Tournament championship match (Nov. 16, 2019).
The Mustangs will face another top 10 opponent as they host no. 9 Denver at 6 p.m. CT, Sep. 1.