No. 6 SMU (9-6-3, 4-4-1 AAC (13 pts.)) vs. No. 3 Cincinnati (12-3-3, 5-2-2 AAC (17 pts.))

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After clinching an American Athletic Conference Tournament berth Thursday, the SMU women's soccer team kicks off its 2017 postseason campaign on Wednesday with the American Athletic Conference Quarterfinals against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 CT at the UCF Soccer and Track Complex. The match will be aired on The American Digital Network.
 
QUICK HITS:
> SMU is on a four-match winning streak; All shutouts
> SMU is on a 362:26-minute shutout streak
> SMU has seven shutouts this season, the most since 2013
> SMU beat No. 21 Cincinnati; Move to 2-1-1 against ranked team this season
> Vanessa Valadez leads the Mustangs with five goals, three game-winners
> Allie Thornton leads the team with 56 shots (2nd AAC) and 22 shots on goal
> Haley Thompson leads the team with seven assists; Is T3 in the AAC in assists.
> Hannah Allred has four goals on the year including the tournament-clinching strike vs. Houston
> Katia Novi scored her second career goal, first game-winner, against No. 21 Cincinnati
> Isabelle Nashmi recorded her second career goal, first game-winner, against ECU
> SMU recorded 43 shots against NMSU, the most since Northwestern a year ago
> SMU notched its 400th program history with a 1-0 win against TCU
> SMU has beaten a top-25 opponent in consecutive seasons (Sept. 29, 2016, 1-0 at No. 15 USF; Sept. 18, 2017, 1-0 vs. No. 17 Arkansas)
> 2016 final marks: 13-7-2, 6-2-1 AAC
> 2016 American Athletic Conference Tournament Runner-up; NCAA First Round
> 2016 was SMU's first NCAA tournament since 2006
 
ABOUT SMU: Currently amidst a four-match unbeaten streak, SMU completed a second-half comeback to clinch a spot in The American tournament. Chris Petrucelli's side has been defensively stout of late, currently riding a 363-minute (362:26) shutout streak dating back to Oct. 15. After starting 0-4-1 to open conference play, SMU posted four straight shutouts to finish with 13 points (4-4-1) in conference play. SMU is 9-6-3 overall. On the heels of a 1-0 win against Houston to clinch the final seed, SMU will play the third-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats in a winner-advances match. Against Houston, Hannah Allred netted her fourth goal of the season in the 8' of play. Vanessa Valadez leads the Mustangs with five goals, while Claire Oates and Allie Thornton each have three on the 2017 campaign. Junior Haley Thompson has seven assists on the season. Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Chris Petrucelli, SMU returns 17 student-athletes, including nine starters from its 2016 squad. SMU finished 2016 with a 13-7-2 record (6-2-1 AAC), en route to an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006. The Mustangs finished third in the regular season, before finishing runner-up in the AAC Conference Tournament.
 
LAST TIME OUT (W, 1-0 at SMU): DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU women's soccer team clinched a spot in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Tournament by way of a 1-0 shutout against Houston in the regular-season finale at Westcott Field Thursday night. With the win, SMU will play in the AAC tournament for the second straight year, and the fourth time in the last five seasons. SMU will play in its eighth conference tournament in the last nine seasons. The Mustangs improved to 9-6-3 overall and 4-4-1 in league play, while Houston finished its season at 7-9-1 and 3-6-0 in The American. With just over seven minutes expired, freshman Hannah Allred netted the eventual game-winner to give SMU a 1-0 lead. After saving a cross that nearly rolled over the end line, Allie Thornton served a cross into the penalty box, where a Houston defender managed to break up the serve. A misrouted volley by the Cougar defender ricocheted off the cross bar and to the feet of a crashing Allred, who buried it for her fourth goal of the season. The SMU offense kept the Houston defense busy during the opening 45 minutes, recording 15 of its 19 total shots in the first period. SMU finished the match with seven shots on goal. Eleven different players recorded a shot, with seven recording two or more. Thornton led the Mustangs with three shots. In the defensive third, SMU allowed just eight shots on the night, with one on goal. The Mustangs smothered the Cougar offense in the first half, allowing just two shots. The Mustangs now have seven clean sheets on the year, the most since 2013. SMU has shutout its last four opponents and hasn't allowed a goal in 362:26 minutes.
 
SCOUTING CINCINNATI: Cincinnati (12-3-3, 4-1-2 AAC) finished the 2017 regular season campaign in the AAC standings with 17 points, following a 1-0 win against East Carolina. The Beatcats' most notable player in the attack this season has been midfielder Sophie Gorman. She leads the squad with a team-high six goal and four assists. Cincinnati's attack also features four players with three goals apiece, including Jaycie Brown who leads the team win shots (41) and is second on the team in shots on goal (18). The Bearcats have scored 25 goals, averaging 1.39 per match. Defense has been the key for Cincinnati in 2017, allowing just 10 goals.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: In the head-to-head matchups between SMU and Cincinnati, the two sides are knotted at 3-3-2. Cincinnati holds the only win in neutral site matches, a 2-0 win in Madison, Wisc., on Oct. 14, 1989. In the lone meeting in 2017, SMU upset then-No. 21 Cincinnati, 1-0, in Dallas.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BEARCATS: (W, 1-0 at SMU) DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU women's soccer team upset No. 21 Cincinnati, 1-0, on senior day at Westcott Field. The win was SMU's third straight shutout, and sixth clean sheet of the season. With less than 10 minutes left in regulation, freshman Katia Novi broke the tie and netted the eventual game-winner in the 81st minute to secure the win. After receiving a ball from Jessica Cooley, Allie Thornton managed to get around the Cincinnati back line and loft a cross into the penalty box. After knocking off the cross bar and the near post, the ball fell right to Novi's feet, who punched it in from a yard off the goal-line. The goal was the second of her career and second in the last three matches. Novi played a career-high 28 minutes in the win. Thornton was credited with an assist, the third of the season. Veteran goalkeeper Catie Brown, along with the backline, stopped all four shots on goal to preserve the sixth clean sheet of the year. SMU outshot the Bearcats, 11-8, and recorded a 5-4 edge on shots on goal. Blair Thorpe led the Mustang attack with four shots, one of which was on frame. Mary Meehan registered two shots, also with one on frame.
 
UP NEXT: Barring a loss in Wednesday's match, SMU will play No.2-seed USF in the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal on Friday, Nov. 3.

SMU AT THE AAC TOURNAMENT: SMU holds a 3-3-1 record while at the American Athletic Conference Tournament. In its four year history, the Mustangs have advanced to three league tournaments, including the 2016 tournament where SMU reached the championship match.

In the opening round: 2-0-1
Nov. 1, 2013    vs. Temple       3-0 W
Oct. 31, 2014   vs. Temple       2-1 W
Nov. 2, 2016    vs. UCF           1-1 T (2 OT (SMU advanced on PKs, 3-2))
 
Second round: 1-2-0
Nov. 3              at #13 UCF      0-3 L
Nov. 2, 2014    at #19 UCF      0-4 L
Nov. 4, 2016    vs. Memphis    1-0 W
 
Championship match: 0-1-0
Nov. 6, 2016    at UConn         0-1 L
 
COACHING CORNER: Two-time National Coach of the Year and 1995 NCAA Championship Coach Chris Petrucelli is in his sixth season (2017) as SMU Head Women's Soccer Coach. A veteran of 20-plus years as a head coach, Petrucelli was named the NSCAA National Coach of the Year in both 1994 and 1995 and was lauded as the NSCAA Central Region Coach of the Year in both 2002 and 2006. In his 28th season as a head coach, Petrucelli has compiled a 392-164-49 (.688) record.
 
PUT IT ON THE BOARD: The SMU women's soccer team is 8-2-0 when scoring first. In 2016, the Mustangs were 9-0-0 when scoring first.
 
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS: SMU freshmen have accounted for eight of SMU's 25 goals (32 percent) in 2017, all with at least two strikes. Hannah Allred leads the freshmen and is second on the team with four goals. Both Isabelle Nashmi and Katia Novi have a pair of strikes.
 
KEEP YOUR HEAD ABOUT YA: SMU has six header goals this season, three by senior midfielder Claire Oates, two by defender Katharine Herron and one by Isabelle Nashmi.
 
THOR(NTON)'S HAMMER: At the end of the 2017 regular season, sophomore Allie Thornton leads SMU with 59 shots and 22 shots on goal. The striker has three goals on the year, recording one against Temple, Tulsa and Sam Houston State. Against New Mexico State, Thornton registered a season-high nine shots. Against No. 16 Oklahoma, she registered eight shots, equaling Oklahoma's team shots total, with three on frame. In 2016, she finished the season tied with a team-high 10 goals and was second on the team with 23 points. Thornton was the first player since Olivia O'Rear (13) in 2006 to score at least 10 goals in a single-season, and the first since Kimber Bailey (2004, 11) to score 10 or more goals in her freshman year. The 10 goals ranks tied for eight on the SMU All-time goals by a freshman list.
 
MILESTONE 400!: Redshirt junior Vanessa Valadez netted the eventual game-winner in the 27th minute against TCU to propel SMU to a 1-0 win for the 400th program victory. Since the beginning of the program in 1986, the program record is 405-210-48 (.647). The Mustangs have been coached by six different coaches over that span.
 
2017 AAC HONORS:
Catie Brown – Goalkeeper of the Week (Aug. 28), Weekly Honor Roll (Oct. 23)
Isabelle Nashmi – Weekly Honor Roll (Aug. 28)
Vanessa Valadez – Weekly Honor Roll (Sept. 5)
Katia Novi – Weekly Honor Roll (Oct. 23)
Hannah Allred – Weekly Honor Roll (Oct. 30)
Haley Thompson – Weekly Honor Roll (Oct. 30)
 
2017 AAC PRESEASON HONORS: The Mustangs were picked to finish second in the American Athletic Conference, receiving three of 10 first place votes by the league's coaches. SMU returns nine of 11 starters from 2016, including three members of the preseason all-conference team: Claire Oates, Vanessa Valadez and Allie Thornton. The trio finished top three in scoring in 2016, with Oates and Thornton leading the way with 10 goals apiece, while Valadez netted nine. Thornton and Valadez were named to the 2016 AAC all-conference first team, while Oates garnered second team honors. Thornton was also named to The American all-rookie team.
 
2016 AAC HONORS: SMU head coach Chris Petrucelli was name the American Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year, and five student-athletes were named to AAC All-Conference teams. Following the AAC Championship, four members were named to the AAC All-Tournament Team
 
First Team: Allie Thornton & Vanessa Valadez
Second Team: Taylor Barg & Claire Oates
Rookie Team: Allie Thornton & Jessica Cooley
All-Tournament: Catie Brown, Claire Oates, Allie Thornton, Vanessa Valadez
 
WESTCOTT FIELD: With the win against No. 21 Cincinnati, SMU clinched a winning season at Westcott Field for the third consecutive season. Since opening in 1994, SMU holds a .712 winning percentage (161-59-20) at Westcott Field. In 23 seasons at Westcott, the Mustangs have finished .500 or better in 22 seasons, with three perfect seasons.
 
FREE SOCCER!: Adding to its menu of free, family-friendly events, SMU Athletics will now offer free admission to all Mustang soccer matches beginning this fall. The soccer programs are among 11 SMU sports that offer free admission. Others include volleyball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's golf, rowing and equestrian.
 
NCAA RECOGNITION AWARD: SMU women's soccer was one of two SMU athletic programs to earn Public Recognition Awards for their latest multi-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rates (APR). This is the second time the women's soccer team has achieved the honor (2013-14, 2015-16). The APR is an annual scorecard of academic achievement calculated for all Division I sports teams and provides a real-time look at a team's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation, and provides a measure of each team's academic performance.
 
SMU SOCCER PROGRAMS EARN 2016-17 TEAM ACADEMIC AWARDS: Both SMU soccer programs earned the United Soccer Coaches' (formerly the NSCAA) Team Academic Award on Thursday. The teams were recognized for their exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2016-17 academic year. SMU was one of 202 collegiate programs to have both their men and women's teams earn the award. The SMU women's team, which posted a 3.50 team grade-point average for the 2016-17 academic year, has earned the honor for the sixth consecutive season. The SMU men's soccer team earned the academic award for its second consecutive season following a 3.40 GPA. A total of 824 soccer teams (286 men, 538 women) earned the honor. To qualify for the award, the team must have a minimum grade-point average of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of players.