No. 9/12 SMU (3-1-0, 3-1-0 AAC) vs. UCF (2-3-0, 2-3-0 AAC)
Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium - Dallas, Texas
Saturday, March 13, 2021 – 7 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+
SMU Game Notes | UCF | American
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SMU hosts UCF on Saturday, March 13 at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium in Dallas. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. CT and will be featured on ESPN+. Home matches during the 2020-21 season are closed to the general public.

SERIES HISTORY 
SMU and UCF have faced off a total of 18 times in program history and every year since 2005. Five times have been during postseason play. The Mustangs are 6-1-2 when playing in Dallas. The two played three times during the 2019 season, meeting in the regular season, the AAC Tournament final and during the thrid round of the NCAA Tournament. 2019's regular season match ended in a 3-3 tie in Dallas before SMU won the AAC Tournament title in Orlando, 1-0. As the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, the two played to a 2-1 final and the Mustangs advanced to the quarterfinals. Eddie Munjoma scored the game-winner in overtime.

KNOW THE FOE 
UCF has started the season 2-3-0, with wins at Temple and versus Memphis. The Knights have fallen to Tulsa twice and USF once. In their last outing, the Knights defeated Memphis at home, 2-1. Yoni Sorokin scored in the 18th minute and Ariel Hadar scored in the 60th. Keeper Matt Douglass made three saves and allowed one goal. Hadar and Douglass were both named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll.  The team is led by 12 upperclassmen and added seven freshmen to this season's roster.

IN THE POLLS
SMU is ranked No. 9 in the second week of the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Last week's No. 2 ranking was the highest for any team in AAC history. The Mustangs are ranked 12th in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 after starting 3-1-0. College Soccer News has SMU at No. 8 in its weekly Top 30.

THE SEASON'S START
The Mustangs dropped their first contest of the season at Temple, losing 2-0. SMU outshot the Owls, 14-10, and had six shots on goal during the match. SMU's first three wins were shutouts, marking the first time since 2006 that the Mustangs have started a season with three consecutive shutouts. SMU defeated Memphis, 5-0, in Dallas for a 2-0 series win this season. All five goals came in the second half with Papa Ndoye scoring twice for his second multi-goal game and Noah Hilt adding two assists. The Mustangs earned the largest shutout win since 2014 in their 7-0 win at USF. The seven goals also ties SMU's own AAC record for most in a conference game. Papa Ndoye and Nick Taylor both scored twice in the win at USF and Gabriel Costa was credited with two assists. Shane Lanson and Cole Johnson had the combined shutout for SMU's second in as many games. SMU started the 2020-21 season at Memphis with a 2-0 final. Tobin Shanks and Thomas Haney notched goals for the Mustangs while Knut Ahlander picked up a point with an assist.

MUSTANGS IN THE RANKINGS
SMU is No. 1 in the nation in scoring offense, outscoring opponents 14-2 in four games for a goals per game average of 3.50. The Mustangs are leading the conference in shutout percentage (0.750), save percentage (0.833) and GAA (0.500). SMU is No. 5 in goal differential (12) and No. 3 in points per game (9.50). Noah Hilt is 5th in the NCAA for assists per game (1st AAC) with 1.00. Papa Ndoye is 4th in the NCAA in shots per game (1st AAC) with 5.25 and is 9th in goals per game (T-1st AAC) with 1.00. Shane Lanson leads the conference in GAA (0.544) and save percentage (0.818).

2020-21 HONORS

• Thomas Haney - AAC Defensive Player of the Week (Feb. 8), TDS/CSN Team of the Week (Feb. 9)
• Noah Hilt - AAC Defensive Player of the Week (March 1), TDS Team of the Week (March 1)
• Shane Lanson - 3x AAC Honor Roll (Feb. 8, Feb. 15, March 1)
• Papa Ndoye - AAC Offensive Player of the Week (Feb. 15), AAC Honor Roll (March 1), TDS/CSN Team of the Week (Feb. 16)
• Jose Ortiz - TDS Freshman to Watch
• Tobin Shanks - AAC Honor Roll (Feb. 8)
• Nick Taylor - AAC Honor Roll (Feb. 15), TDS Honorable Mention (Feb. 16)

PRESEASON HONORS
Both Gabriel Costa and Papa Ndoye were named to the MAC Hermann Watch List for the upcoming season. SMU was picked to finish at the top of the American Athletic Conference, receiving all but one first place vote. Costa was chosen as the unanimous AAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Costa and Knut Ahlander were both unanimously named to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Costa was picked for the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI First Team and as a College Soccer News Preseason All-American. Costa (9th), Ahlander (48th) and Ndoye (68th) landed spots on the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Men's National Top 100.

NEW ADDITIONS
The Mustangs have added six freshmen and seven transfers since the 2019 season for a total of 13 new faces on the Hilltop. Among the transfers is Papa Ndoye, a sophomore forward from Long Island University. Ndoye was one of SMU's two players named to the MAC Hermann Award Watch List. The freshmen made their way to Dallas from California, Arizona and Johannesburg, South Africa, with two from the metroplex area choosing to stay close to home. 2020 midseason transfers consist of Judson Burns from Clemson, Ndoye from LIU, Skage Simonsen from St. John's and Timo Hummrich from Delaware 2021's midseason transfers are Roman Knox from UNC, JT D'Emidio from Air Force and Eben Noverr from Virginia.

SENIOR STANGS
Brandon Terwege, Noah Hilt, Luke Thompson, Nick Taylor are the four seniors highlighting the Mustang roster. Terwege was recently selected by Houston Dynamo FC in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft with the 57th overall pick. He was named to the AAC All-Tournament Team in 2019 after scoring the OT game-winning goal in the tournament semifinal game. The defender had two goals and three assists while helping SMU to 11 total shutouts. Hilt played in 20 games during 2019, scoring two goals and totaling two assists, including one in the NCAA Sweet 16 leading to the game-winning goal. Thompson and Taylor saw multiple games for the Mustangs during the 2019 season, with Taylor recording three assists.

ABOUT ATTENDANCE
Matches at Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium will not be open to the general public this season.

UP NEXT 
SMU hosts USF at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium on Saturday, March 20 at 7 p.m. CT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.