Sept. 14, 2014

 

DALLAS (SMU) - Junior Idrissa Camara scored his first two goals as a Mustang, including the match winner, to lead SMU to a 3-1 victory over Stony Brook on the final night of the SMU Invitational at Westcott Field. With the win, the Ponies sit at 2-3-0 on the season, while the Seawolves fell to 1-4-1.

Camara opened the scoring in just the second minute when he found himself with the ball on his foot following a shot from freshman Abdul Yassine. Yassine's initial shot was saved by SBU goalkeeper Tom McMahon and was drilled in off the rebound by Camara. The assist was a career-first for Yassine.

"Idi has the ability with breakaway speed to run by guys, likes to take guys on one-on-one and does a good job with his back to goal combining with his teammates," Head Coach Tim McClements said. "He's a new addition to our roster and I think we've been getting used to him and he's been getting used to us and I think we're starting to see it click."

The teams went scoreless for the reminder of the first half despite nine shots on goal for SMU in the frame. Following the break, however, the Mustang offense was back in stride and Camara struck for the second time, this time a goal that would prove to be the match winner.

Initially started by junior John Lujano, SMU found itself with the ball inside Stony Brook's 18 and unleashed a series of shots that ended with a connection between freshman Mauro Cichero and Camara for a goal from just outside the six-yard box.

The Mustangs struck again in the 65th minute when sophomore Stanton Garcia secured the SMU victory with an insurance goal, his second of the season. The McKinney, Texas, native placed a header past the outstretched arms of McMahon off a perfectly placed corner kick from freshman Jared Rice. The assist was Rice's second of the season, and second off a corner kick.

The Seawolves' lone goal came in the 88th minute when Dario Vanegas received a feed from Alejandro Fritz and connected off a shot from the top of the 18-yard box.

Cichero tallied four shots for SMU, including two on goal, while Camara, Damian Rosales and Benjamin Joseph each added three. Yassine, Garcia and Garret Welch combined for the remaining three.

"We were able to generate more entries into the box tonight and guys were hungry to get on the end of it, and when you do that you develop opportunities to score and fortunately we put a few in the back of the net," McClements said.

Defensively, the Mustangs held Stony Brook to zero shots in the first frame. Redshirt-freshman Michael Nelson was forced to make four saves in the second frame, and added those to his total for the weekend to bring him to six.

"Our defensive approach is the same every game. We try to limit them to as few shots as possible, as few entries as possible and the guys did a great job with that," McClements added. "They're the start of our attack as well and I'm really proud of the way the defenders played, and the way Michael played in goal."

SMU is back in action on Friday when they host Oral Roberts on the Hilltop. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT, with live stats and video available at SMUMustangs.com. For tickets visit SMUMustangs.com/Tickets or call 214.768.4263.