Sept. 19, 2014

 

FINAL STATS  |  SEASON STATS

DALLAS (SMU) - Goals from Benjamin Joseph and Jordan Cano propelled the SMU men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Oral Roberts on Friday evening at Westcott Field.

The Mustangs (3-3) have now won three of their last four matches, and sit at 3-1 in matches on the Hilltop. With the loss, Oral Roberts fell to 2-2-1 on the season.

"We wanted to make sure that each individual, and the group as a collective unit, performed to our potential," Head Coach Tim McClements said. "If we did that we felt like we'd have a good chance of coming away with three points, and I was proud of the boys that they came away with those three points."

Offensively, the Ponies outshot ORU 10-3, including a 6-1 count in shots on goal.

Joseph, a redshirt-freshman from Austin, Texas, scored what proved to be the match winner in the 43rd minute off a volley from the top of the 18-yard box. Following a throw in from freshman Bryce Clark, sophomore Stanton Garcia flicked the ball on further into the box causing an Oral Roberts defender to miss hit a clearance to the feet of the waiting Joseph. Joseph took a touch to collect the errant hit and drilled the ball into the lower corner for his first collegiate goal.

The Mustangs' insurance goal came in the 57th minute off a Clark corner. Clark's cross found Cano on the back post and Cano caught ORU's Ben LaCourse near post and headed it into the far corner. The tally was Cano's first of his career, as well as Clark's first assist. It was also the third time this season SMU has scored a goal directly off a corner kick.

"Our ball movement is getting better and better every game and we're getting more opportunities around the box," McClements added. "I wish we would have finished a few more of them, but that will come."

In the four matches since the Mustangs' win over Duke on Sept. 5, the SMU back line has only allowed 12 shots on goal, and goalkeeper Michael Nelson is posting a 0.75 goals-against-average. Nelson was only forced to make one save for the Mustangs tonight.

"Our defensive unit and our goalkeeping were excellent," McClements said. "That unit is very youthful, with four defenders that are freshmen and also a goalkeeper that's a freshman. Obviously they are new faces and you don't know what you're going to get out of them, and with freshmen you can have up and down games with some inconsistencies, but they've been rock solid all along the way."

The Ponies are back in action on Friday when they play host to Tulsa in the first American Athletic Conference test of 2014. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT, with live stats and video available at SMUMustangs.com. For tickets visit SMUMustangs.com/Tickets or call 214.768.4263.