Women's Soccer - SMU vs. UTEP

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SMU is at UTEP Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Hopefully the team will be able to bounce back after yet another frustrating one-goal loss Friday. All seven of SMU's losses this season have been by one goal for those who are counting.

Friday saw some of the players really stepping up and trying to make things happen. I sensed it was more desperation than frustration (at least I hope so). Once SMU got a goal down and was still struggling to generate much offense, Mallory Baum started getting more aggressive on the offensive end. Her five shots led the team on the afternoon and a couple of them were marked for the back of the net before nice saves from the keeper. At one point late in the match, Courtney Smith even made an offensive run into the opposing team's six-yard box!

You could also tell Courtney Webb wasn't going to let another team get a breakaway on us. At one time she literally came 40 yards off her line to get to a long through ball before the CC player could get to it. One other time she did the same thing 25 yards out.

After hoping the offense would come around all season, at this point I guess we know what we are going to get. Hopefully one or two of the good chances will go in Sunday.

After Friday's action, SMU has slipped to 4th place in C-USA.

1. 25 (8-0-1) Memphis (x)
2. 19 (6-2-1) Colorado College (x)
3. 18 (5-1-3) UCF (x)
4. 16 (5-3-1) SMU
5. 14 (4-3-2) Tulsa
5. 14 (4-3-2) UTEP
7. 13 (4-4-1) Rice
8. 10 (3-5-1) Houston
9. 9 (3-5-0) East Carolina
10. 7 (2-5-1) UAB
11. 5 (1-6-2) Marshall
12. 1 (0-8-1) Southern Miss

Note - ECU still has a weather makeup game with UAB so SMU does not have a spot clinched in the postseason tournament yet.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Starting lineup:

Webb; Smith, Cox, Eidson, Hartweck; Clarke, Baum, Bass; Elliott, Redman, Lewis

This is the second straight road trip we have not worn white. I would assume having multiple colored jerseys is a nice recruiting tool.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

20 minutes in still 0-0. Not much action so far.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

1-0 UTEP. 12 minutes left in the 1st.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

1-0 HT.

Three shots for SMU and none on goal. Three shots for UTEP and two on goal.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

The results around C-USA have been good for SMU today. If we can pull out a win we will move back up to 3rd.

Memphis drilled UCF 3-0, Colorado College whipped Tulsa 4-1, Rice lost to Marshall 1-0 (ha ha ha), and East Carolina beat Houston 2-0 knocking Houston back to 9th place.

If SMU loses today we will still be in 4th place, although we will have our spot in the conference tournament secured.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

GOAL SMU!!!!

Briana Gaines just as the stream came back...

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

1-1 with 34 minutes left. They gave assists to Bartol and Elliott.

SMU ends a 255:45 goalless drought (seriously).

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

2-1 SMU with about 2 minutes left!!!!!!!!!!

Gaines again after a nice long free kick from Smith.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

2-1 Final!

The first goal really gave the team some life. They played great for the rest of the second half and had some fantastic chances.

Final stats:

Shots: SMU 15, UTEP 8 (12 SMU shots in the 2nd!)
Shots on goal: SMU 8, UTEP 4 (all 8 SMU SOG in second)
Corners: SMU 5, UTEP 3
Fouls: SMU 12, UTEP 5
Yellows: SMU 1, UTEP 0

Gaines led the team with 4 shots and 3 shots on goal (and both goals of course). Bartol had two assists.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

C-USA standings after today's action. A win against Tulsa next week will lock up 3rd place for SMU and more importantly put Memphis and UCF on the same side of the tournament bracket.

1. 28 (9-0-1) Memphis (x)
2. 22 (7-2-1) Colorado College (x)
3. 19 (6-3-1) SMU (x)
4. 18 (5-2-3) UCF (x)
5. 14 (4-4-2) Tulsa (x)
5. 14 (4-4-2) UTEP (x)
7. 13 (4-5-1) Rice
8. 12 (4-5-0) East Carolina
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9. 10 (3-6-1) Houston
10. 8 (2-6-2) Marshall
11. 7 (2-6-1) UAB
12. 4 (1-8-1) Southern Miss

[HeyHey]

Congratulations, Ladies! It's nice to see the offense come through in the clutch.

DFFH, Thanks again for your game reports

[Terry Webster]

Plus 2. Briana Gaines is really stepping up as a freshman.

[Hoss]

So if the tournament started today, would we be in a rematch with UTEP?

Congratulations, Mustangs.

Great updates, Dan. Thanks.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

So if the tournament started today, would we be in a rematch with UTEP?

Depending on the tiebreaker between UTEP and Tulsa, yes.

Tulsa and UTEP played to a draw Friday night, and I assume the first tiebreaker is head-to-head. I have no idea what tiebreakers they use after that...

C-USA lists Tulsa ahead of UTEP currently.