No. 14 SMU (10-3-2, 4-2-2 AAC) vs. ECU (8-8-2, 3-3-2 AAC)
American Athletic Conference Championships - First Round
Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium - Dallas, Texas
Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021 – 1 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: SMU | ECU
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No. 14 SMU, the No. 4 seed, hosts No. 5 seed ECU Sunday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championship. The winner advances to the semifinals in Tampa, Fla., on Nov. 4. 

ABOUT SMU
•    No. 14 SMU is 10-3-2 this season, 4-2-2 in the American Athletic Conference. 
•    All four conference wins have been shutouts.
•    SMU has two wins against teams receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll at the time of the match (Oklahoma State and Rice).
•    The Mustangs are 6-1-1 at home and 4-2-1 on the road.
•    11 different players have scored this season, with seven hitting the back of the net multiple times.
•    SMU is outscoring opponents 23-14 with nine shutouts.
•    In conference matches, SMU is outscoring opponents 12-10, and eight different players have scored a goal.

LAST TIME OUT
•    SMU suffered a 5-0 defeat at Memphis in the final regular season match.

SCOUTING ECU
•    ECU is 8-8-2 overall and finished with a 3-3-2 record in The American, claiming the No. 5 seed with 11 points. 
•    The Pirates have just one loss in their last seven matches, going 4-1-2 during the stretch.
•    Haley McWhirter leads the team with six goals, and Tori Riggs has four goals.
•    Maeve English has 74 saves in 18 matches with 25 goals allowed. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    SMU is 9-6-3 all-time against ECU, including a 5-2-0 record at home.
•    The Mustangs defeated the Pirates 2-0 in Greenville, N.C., in the first conference match of the season on Sept. 23, 2021.
•    Courtney Sebazco scored the game winner in the first half, and Lindsey Whitmore added a second goal early in the second half.
•    This is the third time the teams have met in a conference tournament. 
•    ECU advanced 4-3 on penalties in each of the previous two matches, a scoreless draw on Nov. 2, 2005, and a 1-1 tie on Oct. 31, 2018.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
•    Goalkeeper Tatum Sutherland is second in the NCAA in save percentage at 0.909, making 50 saves while allowing five goals, including one on a penalty kick.
•    Combined, Sutherland and Samantha Estrada have a .853 save percentage, 24th in the NCAA. 
•    SMU has nine shutouts on the season. The two goalkeepers have 77 saves with 14 goals allowed. 

POINTS LEADERS
•    Lindsey Whitmore leads the team with 13 points, scoring four goals with five assists.
•    The graduate transfer tallied an assist against Tulsa for her most recent point.
•    Whitmore has a team-best three goals and 10 points in conference matches.
•    Courtney Sebazco is tied with Whitmore for the team lead with four goals scored and is second with 11 points.

ESPN+ COVERAGE
•     This season, all of SMU's home games will be featured on ESPN+ along with a select few away games. Stay up-to-date on coverage information on SMUMustangs.com.

SHUTOUTS AND STREAKS
•    SMU won six straight matches, the longest win streak since the Mustangs won 11 straight in 2006. 
•    SMU posted five straight shutouts, tied for second all-time and the longest streak since 2017. SMU had six straight shutouts in 2000, going 5-0-1 during the stretch. 
•    The Mustangs went 552:08 seconds without allowing a goal, the second longest stretch in program history.
•    SMU has nine shutouts this season, ranking seventh in the NCAA in shutout percentage, 0.643.

SCORELESS STREAKS
Year    Length of Time
2000    614:50
2021    552:08
1999    528:10
1995    491:15
2017    485:31
2004    404:36
* Includes all stretches longer than 400 minutes

SHUTOUT STREAKS
Year    Games    Record
2000    6    5-0-1
1995    5    5-0-0
2017    5    5-0-0
2021    5    5-0-0
1988-89    4    4-0-0
1986    4    4-0-0
2004    4    4-0-0
2005    4    4-0-0
1999    4    3-0-1
* Includes all streaks four matches or longer

FIRE AWAY
•    Wayny Balata has team highs in shots, 34, and shots on goal, 18. She has scored three times and has two assists.
•    The midfielder is third on the team with eight points.
•    Balata scored at Denver and had the game winner against Oklahoma. She added a penalty-kick goal at Cincinnati.
•    She put a season-high five shots on goal against UCF.

ALL ABOUT ACCURACY
•    Lindsey Whitmore has taken 21 shots and scored a team-best four times. 13 shots have been on target.
•    She scored at Denver and at ECU. The transfer had both goals in a 2-0 win at USF.
•    Whitmore has a team-best .619 SOG% among players with more than five shots.
•    Jasmine Vilgrain has two goals on 12 shots, placing seven on target.
•    She scored the game winner against San Francisco, and also had a goal and an assist at Denver.

TOUGHING IT OUT
•    Katina Tsapos has played every minute in each of the last 11 matches at midfield, including 110 minutes against UCF and Cincinnati. The graduate student is in her sixth season at SMU, battling through multiple knee surgeries. 
•    She has played in all 15 matches this season, with 60 minutes played against Northwestern State and 85 minutes at Baylor. 
•    Tsapos recorded her first point since the 2018 season with an assist at ECU.

DEFENSE CREATES OFFENSE
•    Three defenders have earned points this season, with two scoring goals. 
•    Freshman Elisabeth Tse scored against Baylor and against UCF. She also has three assists.
•    Payton Doiron scored the game winner against Oklahoma State. 
•    Brooke Golik assisted on the game winner against San Francisco.
 
 IN THE TOP 25
•     SMU is No. 14 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, its seventh week in the top 25. 
•    The Mustangs received votes in the first poll of the season. 
•    14th is the highest SMU has been ranked since earning the No. 14 ranking on Oct. 16, 2000. 
•    SMU was ranked No. 3, the highest ranking in program history, in the final poll at the end of the 1995 season after advancing to the 1995 College Cup, finishing with a 23-1-1 record. 

TOP 25 RANKINGS    
    Sept. 14, 2021 - No. 24 
    Sept. 21, 2021 - No. 17 
    Sept. 28, 2021 - No. 14
    Oct. 5, 2021 - No. 15
    Oct. 12, 2021 - No. 20
    Oct. 19, 2021 - No. 16
    Oct. 26, 2021 - No. 14

Highest Since    No. 14 - Oct. 16, 2000 
Highest All-Time    No. 3 - 1995 Final Poll

OVERTIME
•     SMU is 30-30-51 all-time in 111 overtime matches.
•    SMU has played at least one overtime match in every season since its inception in 1986. 
•    The Mustangs played a program-high 10 overtime matches in 2002, going 3-3-4 in extra time. 
•    The Mustangs are 0-1-2 in overtime this season. 

GAME WINNERS
Aug. 22    Northwestern State    Courtney Sebazco
Sept. 9    Oklahoma State    Payton Doiron
Sept. 12    at Rice    Courtney Sebazco
Sept. 16    San Francisco    Jasmine Vilgrain
Sept. 19    Oklahoma    Wayny Balata
Sept. 23    at ECU    Courtney Sebazco
Oct. 10    at USF    Lindsey Whitmore
Oct. 20    Temple    Alina Khan
Oct. 24    Tulsa    Alina Khan

COACHING CORNER
•     Chris Petrucelli is in his 10th season as head coach at SMU and his 32nd season overall. 
•    Petrucelli is one of eight active coaches to win a national championship (Notre Dame, 1995).
•    Petrucelli started the season ranked seventh among active head coaches with 416 career wins.

MOST DIVISION I WINS AMONG ACTIVE COACHES
    Coach    Team    Years    Wins
1.    Anson Dorrance    North Carolina    43    901
2.    Jerry Smith    Santa Clara    35    515
3.    G Guerrieri    Texas A&M    31    491
4.    Mark Krikorian    Florida State    28    471
5.    Steve Swanson    Virginia    32    448
6.    Randy Waldrum    Pittsburgh    28    430
7.    Chris Petrucelli    SMU    32    426
8.    Jim Blankenship    FGCU    31    424
9.    Jennifer Rockwood    BYU    27    417
10.    Nancy Feldman    Boston    34    416
•Through games played as of Oct. 29, 2021

2021 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Aug. 23    Courtney Sebazco    Honor Roll
Sept. 13    Courtney Sebazco    Offense
Sept. 13    Payton Doiron    Defense
Sept. 13    Tatum Sutherland    Goalkeeper
Sept. 20    Tatum Sutherland    Goalkeeper
Sept. 27    Tatum Sutherland    Goalkeeper
Sept. 27    Lindsey Whitmore    Honor Roll
Oct. 4    Elisabeth Tse    Defense
Oct. 11    Tatum Sutherland    Honor Roll
Oct. 11    Lindsey Whitmore    Honor Roll
Oct. 25    Samantha Estrada    Goalkeeper
Oct. 25    Alina Khan    Honor Roll

2021 AAC ALL-PRESEASON TEAM
•    Wayny Balata was named to the American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Team. She had three goals and two assists entering the season.

2021 AAC Preseason Coaches Poll
1     USF (6)    62
2     Memphis (3)    59
3     SMU    44
4     Cincinnati    41
5     UCF    40
6     East Carolina    29
7     Houston    24
8     Temple    16
9     Tulsa    9
First-place votes in parenthesis