Thursday, October 18
Orlando, Fla.
6 p.m.
SMU
at
UCF
Mustangs Begin Florida Trip With No. 24 UCF
Oct 17 | Women's Soccer
SMU @ No. 24 UCF
SMU 8-5-1, 3-3-0
UCF 8-4-1, 5-1-0Â
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Oct 18, 2018 – 6:00 p.m. CT
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SEASON STATS
ORLANDO, Fla. (SMU) --- The Mustangs head to Florida to face a pair of ranked teams beginning with No. 24 UCF on Thursday at 6 p.m.Â
SERIES HISTORYÂ
-Thursday will be the 22nd meeting between the two programs in a series that dates back to 1988. UCF leads the all-time series 14-6-1. Last season, the 10th-ranked Knights left Westcott with a 4-0 victory. In their last regular season trip to Orlando in 2016, the Mustangs bested UCF 2-1, and followed it up with a draw in the conference tournament with the Mustangs advancing through penalty kicks. Since joining the same conference in 2006, the programs have met five times at conference tournaments. UCF was ranked in the top 20 for eight of the last 11 meetings.
ABOUT UCF – Central Florida enters the contest riding a two-game winning streak including snapping Memphis' winning streak with a 2-0 victory on Thursday. UCF capped the week by knocking off Tulsa on the road, 3-1. The Knights only blemish in American Conference play came at the hands of ECU who topped UCF, 1-2. UCF came into the season with a No. 16 preseason ranking. Stefanie Sanders leads the Knights in every offensive category, including 11 goals and five assists with 77 shots taken. Vera Varis has spent the majority of the time in goal and has three shutouts on her record. Former U.S. national team player Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak is in the midst of her sixth season as head coach at UCF.Â
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QUICK FACTS
-The Mustangs are in the midst of a three-game stretch where they play three consecutive ranked teams, No 18 Memphis, No 24 UCF and No. 20 USF. This is the first time that SMU has ever faced three straight ranked opponents in a single season. The Mustangs did, however, face four straight ranked teams over the course of two seasons.  In 2016, Mustangs faced a ranked UCF and a ranked Oklahoma to end the season and started 2017 with a pair of ranked games. Â
-With her PK goal against Cincinnati, redshirt senior Vanessa Valadez set the SMU Career mark for most PK goals  breaking the previous mark of six set by Kim Harvey. Valadez added another in the matchup with Tulsa and has yet to miss a PK (8-for-8).
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-In American Athletic Conference play, senior Catie Brown holds nearly every Mustang goalkeeping record. Brown has compiled a 13-10-2 record across four seasons. The Mustang program has won 20 games in AAC play with Brown in goal for 13 of 20.
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-The Mustangs are outscoring their opponents 17-4 in the first half. The team has scored two or more goals in the first 20 minutes of four of their 14 games. Additionally, SMU has scored 11 goals in the first quarter (22:30) of games and have conceded once (against UConn). Against FIU, SMU scored twice before the five-minute mark, the quickest to a pair of goals for the Mustang since 2016 against Tulsa.
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-Junior Allie Thornton leads the Mustangs in points with 16 points coming on eight goals. The striker added number eight against Tulsa scoring from an angle against the Golden Hurricane with assists from Sebazco and Tsapos.
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-Allie Thornton joined teammate Vanessa Valadez as active Mustangs with 20-career goals when she scored in the first half against UConn.Â
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-Senior Goalkeeper Catie Brown recorded an impressive streak of 355:33 minutes in net without conceding a goal, a streak that dated back to the draw against TCU and ended on a 15th minute goal from UConn. The streak included a PK save by Brown in the road contest against Northern Colorado.  Brown was named to The American Honor Roll after the Mustangs' road trip to Colorado.
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-For the second time this season, Courtney Sebazco was named Rookie of the Week by the American Athletic Conference. Sebazco is just the third AAC player to be honored more than once with Rookie of the Week. The Fort Worth, Texas native had her first award-winning weekend against Rice and TCU, scoring a pair of goals. Two weeks later, Sebazco registered a multi-goal game against FIU, including one coming on a penalty kick. The freshman leads the Mustangs in shots and shots on goals. Sebazco added her fifth goal against Northern Colorado and a sixth against UConn.
-Freshman have accounted for 11 of the Mustangs 30 goals and seven of the 20 assists. Celiana Torres tops the entire team with five assists while also chipping in five goals over 13 games.Â
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-With the win against UConn on Sep. 23, SMU clinched a winning season at Westcott Field for the fourth consecutive season. In 24 seasons at Westcott, the Mustangs have finished .500 or better in 23 seasons, with three perfect seasons.
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-Head Coach Chris Petrucelli won his 400th career game on the Sunday Sep. 23 in the win over UConn. In his seventh season at the helm of the Mustangs, Petrucelli has 61 wins while on the Hilltop. Only eight coaches have reached the 400-win mark in Division 1, including just six other active coaches: Anson Dorance (UNC), Jerry Smith (Santa Clara), G. Guerrieri (Texas A&M), Becky Burleigh (Florida) and Randy Waldrum (Pittsburgh).
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-The Mustangs were picked to finish fifth in the American Athletic Conference with junior Allie Thornton being named preseason All-Conference by the league's coaches.
UP NEXT -Â The Mustangs head to Tampa for a Sunday matchup with No. 20 USF slated for 12:00 p.m CT.
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SMU 8-5-1, 3-3-0
UCF 8-4-1, 5-1-0Â
Â
Oct 18, 2018 – 6:00 p.m. CT
Watch | Live Stats
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
SMU Notes (PDF)Â
New SMU Mobile App
Apple Google Play
SEASON STATS
ORLANDO, Fla. (SMU) --- The Mustangs head to Florida to face a pair of ranked teams beginning with No. 24 UCF on Thursday at 6 p.m.Â
SERIES HISTORYÂ
-Thursday will be the 22nd meeting between the two programs in a series that dates back to 1988. UCF leads the all-time series 14-6-1. Last season, the 10th-ranked Knights left Westcott with a 4-0 victory. In their last regular season trip to Orlando in 2016, the Mustangs bested UCF 2-1, and followed it up with a draw in the conference tournament with the Mustangs advancing through penalty kicks. Since joining the same conference in 2006, the programs have met five times at conference tournaments. UCF was ranked in the top 20 for eight of the last 11 meetings.
ABOUT UCF – Central Florida enters the contest riding a two-game winning streak including snapping Memphis' winning streak with a 2-0 victory on Thursday. UCF capped the week by knocking off Tulsa on the road, 3-1. The Knights only blemish in American Conference play came at the hands of ECU who topped UCF, 1-2. UCF came into the season with a No. 16 preseason ranking. Stefanie Sanders leads the Knights in every offensive category, including 11 goals and five assists with 77 shots taken. Vera Varis has spent the majority of the time in goal and has three shutouts on her record. Former U.S. national team player Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak is in the midst of her sixth season as head coach at UCF.Â
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QUICK FACTS
-The Mustangs are in the midst of a three-game stretch where they play three consecutive ranked teams, No 18 Memphis, No 24 UCF and No. 20 USF. This is the first time that SMU has ever faced three straight ranked opponents in a single season. The Mustangs did, however, face four straight ranked teams over the course of two seasons.  In 2016, Mustangs faced a ranked UCF and a ranked Oklahoma to end the season and started 2017 with a pair of ranked games. Â
-With her PK goal against Cincinnati, redshirt senior Vanessa Valadez set the SMU Career mark for most PK goals  breaking the previous mark of six set by Kim Harvey. Valadez added another in the matchup with Tulsa and has yet to miss a PK (8-for-8).
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-In American Athletic Conference play, senior Catie Brown holds nearly every Mustang goalkeeping record. Brown has compiled a 13-10-2 record across four seasons. The Mustang program has won 20 games in AAC play with Brown in goal for 13 of 20.
Â
-The Mustangs are outscoring their opponents 17-4 in the first half. The team has scored two or more goals in the first 20 minutes of four of their 14 games. Additionally, SMU has scored 11 goals in the first quarter (22:30) of games and have conceded once (against UConn). Against FIU, SMU scored twice before the five-minute mark, the quickest to a pair of goals for the Mustang since 2016 against Tulsa.
Â
-Junior Allie Thornton leads the Mustangs in points with 16 points coming on eight goals. The striker added number eight against Tulsa scoring from an angle against the Golden Hurricane with assists from Sebazco and Tsapos.
Â
-Allie Thornton joined teammate Vanessa Valadez as active Mustangs with 20-career goals when she scored in the first half against UConn.Â
Â
-Senior Goalkeeper Catie Brown recorded an impressive streak of 355:33 minutes in net without conceding a goal, a streak that dated back to the draw against TCU and ended on a 15th minute goal from UConn. The streak included a PK save by Brown in the road contest against Northern Colorado.  Brown was named to The American Honor Roll after the Mustangs' road trip to Colorado.
Â
-For the second time this season, Courtney Sebazco was named Rookie of the Week by the American Athletic Conference. Sebazco is just the third AAC player to be honored more than once with Rookie of the Week. The Fort Worth, Texas native had her first award-winning weekend against Rice and TCU, scoring a pair of goals. Two weeks later, Sebazco registered a multi-goal game against FIU, including one coming on a penalty kick. The freshman leads the Mustangs in shots and shots on goals. Sebazco added her fifth goal against Northern Colorado and a sixth against UConn.
-Freshman have accounted for 11 of the Mustangs 30 goals and seven of the 20 assists. Celiana Torres tops the entire team with five assists while also chipping in five goals over 13 games.Â
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-With the win against UConn on Sep. 23, SMU clinched a winning season at Westcott Field for the fourth consecutive season. In 24 seasons at Westcott, the Mustangs have finished .500 or better in 23 seasons, with three perfect seasons.
Â
-Head Coach Chris Petrucelli won his 400th career game on the Sunday Sep. 23 in the win over UConn. In his seventh season at the helm of the Mustangs, Petrucelli has 61 wins while on the Hilltop. Only eight coaches have reached the 400-win mark in Division 1, including just six other active coaches: Anson Dorance (UNC), Jerry Smith (Santa Clara), G. Guerrieri (Texas A&M), Becky Burleigh (Florida) and Randy Waldrum (Pittsburgh).
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-The Mustangs were picked to finish fifth in the American Athletic Conference with junior Allie Thornton being named preseason All-Conference by the league's coaches.
UP NEXT -Â The Mustangs head to Tampa for a Sunday matchup with No. 20 USF slated for 12:00 p.m CT.
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Players Mentioned
GK
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F/MF
/ Women's Soccer
MF
/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's SoccerTuesday, September 15
Sunday, September 13
Saturday, September 12
Saturday, September 12
