July 10, 2015
COMPLETE 2015 SCHEDULE
DALLAS (SMU) - First-year head coach Kevin Hudson has announced the 2015 men's soccer schedule, which includes match-ups with three 2014 NCAA Tournament teams, and 11 regular season home contests at Westcott Field.
The Mustangs, who finished the 2014 regular season with a 10-6-2 overall record, were the No. 3 seed in the American Athletic Conference tournament, and reached the event semifinal. John Lujano earned second-team NSCAA Scholar-America honors, while he was also named NSCAA second-team all-region along with Idi Camara. On the conference level, Michael Nelson was named the Goalkeeper of the Year with four additional student-athletes earning all-league honors, and two more recognized on the all-rookie squad. As a team, SMU was ranked as high as No. 21 in the NSCAA poll.
SMU hosts three preseason matches including in-state foes Incarnate Word (Aug. 15) and UT Dallas (Aug. 20) and 2014 opponent Central Arkansas (Aug. 22). The Ponies are a combined 6-0 against these teams in regular season contests.
The 2015 season opens at home when Big West opponent Sacramento State comes to Dallas on Aug. 28 and continues with opening weekend action against UIC out of the Horizon League on Aug. 30. It will be the first meeting for the Mustangs with both programs.
A weekend in Massachusetts highlights SMU's first road tests of the season with matches at Boston College (Sept. 4) and Harvard (Sept. 6). The Mustangs look for their first win over the Eagles of BC, while they hold a 1-0 lead in the young series with the Crimson following a 3-2 double overtime victory in 2012.
SMU returns to the Hilltop for a four-game homestand, including two NCAA Tournament teams, beginning with a Sept. 10 match against the West Coast Conference's Portland. The Mustangs are 2-1 all-time against the Pilots, with both victories coming over the then-No. 3 (1989) and No. 11 (1991) ranked teams in the country. Second-round participant Stanford, which won the Pac-12 regular season crown and finished the season ranked No. 4, is on the schedule for Sept. 13.
On Sept. 17, the Mustangs host in-state foe Houston Baptist, which SMU last saw in an exhibition contest a season ago. Overall, SMU holds the 3-0-1 series advantage over the Huskies. The final match of the homestand features NCAA third-round team UC Irvine. The Anteaters finished the 2014 season with an appearance in the Big West Championship game, and fell to Providence, 1-0, in postseason play.
American Athletic Conference play kicks off with a road trip across the north border to Tulsa to face the league's 2014 tournament champion Golden Hurricane on Sept. 26. The Mustangs faced TU three times a season ago, finishing with a 1-2 record as both teams won its home match. The final meeting came in the conference semifinal where Tulsa earned the 2-0 decision. As the conference's lone representative in the NCAA Tournament, Tulsa fell, 2-0, to St. Louis in the first round.
October opens with a match against the Knights from UCF (Oct. 2), the team the Ponies defeated, 4-0, in last year's conference tournament quarterfinals, and is followed up with a road meeting at Memphis (Oct. 7).
Remaining home matches include 2014 American regular season champion Connecticut on Oct. 10, a rematch with Tulsa on Oct. 21 and the regular season finale against Temple on Oct. 31. SMU fell to UConn a season ago, but defeated Temple, 2-1, in overtime.
On Oct. 17 SMU heads to Cincinnati, which it holds a 2-0 advantage in conference action over, and on Oct. 24, 2014 AAC tournament runner-up USF hosts the Mustangs in Tampa.
A short break in the conference schedule brings Oral Roberts to town on Sept. 29. SMU won the 2014 match-up, 2-0, and owns a 6-0 all-time record.
For more information on the SMU men's soccer team 'like' /SMUSoccerM on Facebook and 'follow' @SMUSoccerM on Twitter. For tickets call 214.768.GAME (4263) or click here.
