SEASON PREVIEW: Breaking Down The Roster

August 26, 2017

August 18, 2017

2017 SMU Men's Soccer Roster

DALLAS (SMU) – Led by third-year head coach Kevin Hudson, the SMU men's soccer team once again has high expectations as the Mustangs return 21 letterwinners, including eight starters from last season.

Expectations, however, are always high on the Hilltop for a program that has two College Cup berths, 12 NCAA quarterfinal appearances, 22 NCAA third round appearances and 30 NCAA Tournament berths. SMU has won 18 regular season conference championships and seven conference tournament titles.

SMU was selected to finish fifth in the preseason poll of the eight-team American Athletic Conference, a league that sent two teams (Tulsa, USF) to the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

2017 Preseason All-Conference Team
GK – Michael Nelson, SMU*
B – Patrick Nielsen, Cincinnati*
B – Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, UConn
B – Dylan Greenberg, UConn
B – Jordan Cano, SMU
B – Zack Stavrou, Tulsa
M – Matias Pyysalo, UCF
M – Jackson Morse, Memphis
M – Ricardo Gomez, USF
M – Mauro Cichero, SMU*
F – Abdou Mbacke Thiam, UConn*
F – Garrett McLaughlin, SMU
F – Joonas Jokinen, Temple
F – Juan Sanchez, Tulsa*

Goalkeepers
A season after starting 15 matches for the Mustangs, senior Michael Nelson returns as the starting keeper. For the third consecutive season, Nelson has been named the 2017 American Athletic Conference Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. The two-time conference Goalkeeper of the Year (2014, 2015) recorded a team-high 55 saves, three shutouts last season, while posting a 1.16 goals against average to go with a .764 save percentage.

Sophomores Patrick Michael Hillyard and Grant Makela both return, while freshman Matteo DeFina rounds out the depth at the position.

Defenders
The Mustangs welcome back four defenders with experience highlighted by senior Jordan Cano, who garnered second team all-conference honors a year ago after playing in all 16 matches and earning four total points on two goals. Cano has also been named to the preseason all-conference team.

Senior Garrett Welch and sophomores Eddie Munjoma and Philip Ponder return after seeing significant playing time last season. Welch started eight matches, while Munjoma started 12 on the backline and recorded a team-high four assists. Ponder saw action in six matches, starting three for the Mustangs.

SMU added freshmen Joshua Berney, Talen Maples, Austin Vincent and Patrick Wintergalen to give the Mustangs a number of options on the backline.

Midfielders
Bryce Clark is the most experienced of the midfielder group as the senior played and started in all 16 matches last season tallying a team-high four assists. Junior Emil Cuello also played in all 16 matches (11 starts) and registered two goals and assist. Classmate Caleb Smith returns after playing in 11 matches (five starts) with one goal, while sophomore Dwight Williams Jr. recorded one goal and an assist in 10 matches. Sophomore Tosh Yasuda also played in seven games, starting two for SMU.

Other Mustangs that will look to contribute will be sophomore Boston Gilbert and freshmen Noah Hilt and Luke Thompson.

Forwards
Senior Mauro Cichero and sophomore Garrett McLaughlin headline the forwards for the Mustangs. Cichero garnered second team all-conference honors a year ago, while McLaughlin was named the 2016 American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year. Both have been named to the preseason all-conference team, joining goalkeeper Michael Nelson and defender Jordan Cano.

Both juniors Christian Boorom and Colten Habecker add to the Mustangs depth at the forward position as both saw significant playing time last year. Boorom played in all 16 games scoring two goals and tallying one assist, while Habecker scored one goal in 13 matches, including seven starts.

Graduate transfer from Brown, Tyler Long joins the program after appearing in 36 matches in three seasons for the Bears and tallying five goals.

Other returning letterwinners include, senior Abdul Yassine and sophomores Jacob Cohen and Dakota Okwuone. Nicky Hernandez will be also look to compete for playing time as he is the only freshman forward on the roster.

Schedule

Head coach Kevin Hudson and the SMU men's soccer team announced the schedule for the 2017 season. The 16-game schedule is highlighted by 10 home matches at Westcott Field, including three American Athletic Conference games in Dallas.

"We are excited about the 2017 schedule," Hudson said. "The non-conference portion of the schedule will test the team and prepare us for a very tough American Athletic Conference. We will have the opportunity to play on both coasts against numerous NCAA tournament teams and compete against two-time defending National Champion Stanford. Since we started spring practice, the team has been preparing for this opportunity. August 25th cannot get here soon enough!"

The Mustangs open the 2017 campaign at home against UC Davis on Friday, Aug. 25, before hosting the SMU Tournament which runs Sept. 1-3. The Mustangs open the tournament with Oakland on Friday, Sept. 1, before taking on Cornell Sunday, Sept. 3.

SMU visits defending National Champion Stanford, Thursday, Sept. 7 and Santa Clara Saturday, Sept. 9. The Mustangs return home to host Loyola (MD) on Sept. 15 and Brown on Sept. 17.

The Mustangs play two of its first three American Athletic Conference matches on the road at Tulsa (Sept. 24) and at Temple (Oct. 7) SMU welcomes UCF in between the two away games on Friday, Sept. 29.

SMU hosts a three-match homestand from Oct. 10-17. The Mustangs welcome Northeastern (Oct. 10), Memphis (Oct. 14) and Oral Roberts (Oct. 17) during the stretch.

To close out league play, SMU travels to Cincinnati Saturday, Oct. 21 and USF Sunday, Oct. 29, before hosting Connecticut in its final home match of the season on Nov. 4.

The American Athletic Conference Championship takes place Nov. 10-12 with the location to be determined.

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Mustangs by following the SMU Men's Soccer Team on Twitter at @SMUSoccerM, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SMUSoccerM, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/SMU_MSOC. Follow SMU Athletics on Twitter at @SMUMustangs or Instagram at SMU.Mustangs.