Sept. 20, 2007

DALLAS (SMU) - Junior forward Richard Oliva scored a pair of goals for the No. 11 SMU men's soccer team to lead the Mustangs to a 5-1 win over the visiting Gents of Centenary. With the victory, the Mustangs improve to 3-2-1 this season; Centenary falls to 1-6.

The Gents scored the first goal of the game in the third minute when goalkeeper James Speed punted the ball to the opposite end of the field, where it bounced toward the SMU goal. Midfielder Todd Faulkinberry headed the ball over SMU goalkeeper Steve Sandbo to give the Gents a short-lived lead.

The Mustangs evened the score 21 seconds later, when Oliva finished a crossing pass from sophomore forward Dane Saintus to tie the game at 1-1. The Ponies scored the eventual game-winner in the 19th minute, when Saintus ran on to a long lead pass from junior midfielder Bruno Guarda and tapped it under Speed into the lower left corner.

Oliva scored a similar goal in the 61st minute when he ran on to another long lead pass from Guarda and tapped it under the diving Speed. The Mustangs put the game out of reach nine minutes later when Saintus notched his second assist of the night, dropping a centering pass in the 70th minute that freshman Keoki Haole buried into the upper right corner of the net. Guarda closed out the scoring in the 76th minute when he curled a free kick into the upper left corner from 25 yards out.

Each team was playing somewhat short-handed: SMU rested several starters, while Centenary played about 75 minutes with only 10 players, after midfielder Aron Taylor was ejected for hauling Saintus down from behind.

The Mustangs will try to build on the win when they return to Westcott Field this Saturday night to host Oral Roberts at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information and a complete schedule, log on to SMUMustangs.com.