DALLAS (SMU) - A pair of goals 37 seconds apart lifted the SMU men's soccer team to a 4-2 come-from-behind victory over Tulsa in its first conference match of the year on Friday evening. With the win, the Mustangs improve to 4-3-0 on the year and 1-0 in American Athletic Conference action, while Tulsa, which is receiving votes in the latest NSCAA poll, fell to 3-4-1 and 0-1 in league play.

"It's a conference match, the first conference match, it's a rivalry game," Head Coach Tim McClements said. "Rankings don't matter in this game, every time we play Tulsa it's a knock down drag out and you're glad when you come away with the win and we did that tonight."

Freshman Mauro Cichero scored his first collegiate goal in the 57th minute, which would stand as the match winner, off an assist from Jared Rice. Rice now has a team-leading three on the season. The final goal came just before the clock hit the 58th minute as redshirt-freshman Anthony Jeffries cashed in on his first career tally off a feed from Stanton Garcia for the insurance goal.

"Every time you're able to get the ball in the box it's dangerous, and having guys who are courageous and getting on the end of them gives you an opportunity to score goals and we had that tonight," McClements said.

SMU took the initial lead in the 23rd minute when Tulsa was whistled for a handball inside the box. Junior captain John Lujano was called to the spot and sent the penalty kick into the back of the net for his first goal of 2014.

Tulsa was able to even the score just before the break on a goal from Bradley Bourgeois in the 39th minute, and just after coming out of the locker room the Golden Hurricane took the 2-1 lead behind Neil Austin's 48th-minute tally.

However, just over three minutes later SMU's leading goal scorer Garcia tied the match with a contested header on the goal line. Freshman Bryce Clark and junior Idrissa Camara were credited with assists on the score.

"I thought they did an excellent job, it was tough to get a good flow with the defensive pressure Tulsa put on us and I'm just proud of the way the guys responded," McClements said. "We kept our nerve even when there was a little adversity and I think we deserved to win the game, and we did that."

After trailing, 5-3, in shots during the first frame, SMU ended the match with the 12-11 edge, including an 8-2 tally in shots on goal. Garcia and Cichero each had three, while six different players accounted for the remaining six.

Michael Nelson went the distance in the net for the Mustangs and has played every minute in 2014.

The Ponies are back in action on Wednesday when they step out of conference play to host Northern Illinois at Westcott Field. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT with live stats and video available at SMUMustangs.com.