Mustangs, Knights Meet With Highest Stakes Yet
Nov 29 | Men's Soccer
DALLAS – Eddie Munjoma recognizes the dichotomy of the situation. When the SMU men's soccer team steps onto the pitch at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday to face UCF in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, there is a certain level of comfort.
The Mustangs and Golden Knights are American Athletic Conference foes. This isn't the first time the two programs have met with something on the line. Familiarity can certainly help.
But it also cuts both ways.
"We know them and they know us. We know their strengths, weaknesses, and how to pick them apart but where it gets complicated is that they know those same things about us," the senior defender said. "Our previous meetings were in conference play, knowing that we still had games left to play for in the season, but with it now being win or go home, it's really going to come down to who is the better team on Saturday night."
Over the last three years, SMU and UCF have positioned themselves as the AAC front-runners. The programs have squared off in in the conference tournament championship game each of the last three seasons. The Mustangs have won every matchup, including a 1-0 win a few weeks ago. In the regular season, the two teams battled to a 3-3 draw, after SMU erased a 2-goal deficit twice. SMU has an 8-4-5 all-time advantage in the series.
Regular season or conference tournament championships are certainly high stakes, but nothing compared with the win-or-go-home scenario that will unfold Saturday night.
"There is definitely more pressure because if we lose, our season is over and because we know UCF well, it adds to the intensity," SMU junior goalie Grant Makela said. "UCF's a great team, no doubt, and playing them so many times has made us raise our level. It's a game anyone would want to play in and fans are going to want to watch."
Because of their regular season success, SMU and UCF took similar paths to the Sweet 16. Both earned first-round byes as one of the nation's Top 16 seeds. Both needed overtime to move past their opening round opponents. The No. 8 Mustangs got a double overtime goal from Garrett McLaughlin to beat Coastal Carolina, 1-0. The No. 9 Knights used Cal Jennings' overtime goal to topple Missouri State, 2-1.
SMU's dramatic result is something coach Kevin Hudson used as motivational fodder early in the week. But as time wore it, the focus become honed in on this week's opponent. It didn't take long for the Mustangs realize it was time to step up.
"This team has been very focused all year, so it wasn't hard to immediately change the focus to the third round," Hudson said. "UCF is a familiar side. We know each other well and we are looking forward to a great match on Saturday night. Hopefully our crowd can produce the same type of environment again this weekend because they were a big boost for the team against Coastal."
