No. 21 SMU Blanks Central Arkansas, 7-0
DALLAS (SMU) – Six different Mustangs scored goals in the SMU men’s soccer team’s 7-0 victory over Missouri Valley Conference opponent Central Arkansas on Wednesday evening at Westcott Field. With the win, No. 21 SMU improved to 8-3-1 on the season, while UCA fell to 2-9-0.
The seven goals were the most scored since SMU defeated Centenary, 8-0, on Sept. 12, 2006.
“You’re always worried at any level because any team can beat you, but every night you have to put your best foot forward and make sure you’re doing the things that you prepare for and we did,” Head Coach Tim McClements said. “We got goals often and had a number of quality chances and finished several so it was a nice night for our fellows.”
Redshirt-junior Will Smith led the Ponies in scoring with a pair of goals coming in the 87th and 90th minutes to give him his first two career tallies. Smith’s first goal was a bicycle kick inside the six-yard box off an assist from junior Danny McQuaid, while his second was off a cross from senior Andrew Morales. The assists were a first for both this season.
|
The Mustang attack began in just the 13th minute on a counter attack started by redshirt-freshman Abdul Yassine who connected with freshman Mauro Cichero. Cichero was able to avoid several UCA defenders and play the ball into the lower right corner of the goal for his second of the season.
SMU registered three more tallies in the first half off a penalty kick from junior John Lujano in the 17th minute and strikes from junior Idrissa Camara and Morales. Lujano is now a perfect 3-3 on penalty kicks this season. Camara’s goal in the 27th minute came off a throw in from freshman Bryce Clark, while Morales connected on a rebound off a shot from redshirt-senior Damian Rosales in the 45th minute.
Rosales was able to extend his goal-scoring streak to three matches with his 60th minute goal off a fed from Cichero for the fifth goal of the game.
Three Mustangs saw their first action of 2014 with redshirt-sophomore Nick Ruiz clocking 15 minutes in goal, and McQuaid and redshirt-freshman Nicholas Petrucelli seeing time on the back line.
“They played very well and it was a great opportunity for some of our players who haven’t gotten a great amount of time throughout the year to come in and we were really happy and pleased with the way they played,” McClements said “It adds depth to your team as you head into conference play. Knowing that you have people who came come in off the bench and do the job is key.”
Redshirt-freshman Michael Nelson earned the win for SMU in goal after not being forced to make a save.
The Mustang attack tallied 23 shots, including 11 on frame, while the starting back line of Clark and fellow freshmen Jared Rice, Garrett Welch and Jordan Cano, along with the help of junior Jacob Speed, redshirt-freshman Benjamin Joseph and Petrucelli held UCA to only a pair of shots.
The Ponies are now unbeaten in their last eight matches and are 7-1 at home.
“We spoke to the guys before the game to make sure they knew the importance of the result,” McClements said. “Obviously we’ve got some very difficult games coming up and we didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves so we focused tonight on Central Arkansas and now we’ll turn the page and deal with South Florida.”
SMU returns to Westcott Field for an American Athletic Conference battle with No. 24 USF on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. USF sits just behind SMU in American action. Live stats and video will be available at SMUMustangs.com and admission is free.
Trending Videos
Headlines
- Recruiting Roundup: December 16-22
- 2025 Women's Division I Transfer Tracker
- Tracking Division I Coaching Changes
- Favorite Picks of the 2025 MLS Draft
- 2025 Major League Soccer Draft Results
- Midwest High School Roundup - Dec.
- Postseason Women's Division I Top 25
- 2025 Major League Soccer Draft Big Board
- TDS Boys Regional Rankings: Class of 2026
- Women's Postseason Top 100 Freshmen