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Mustangs Host Midweek Matchup Against Tulsa On Tuesday

Apr 5

RV SMU (4-4-0, 4-4-0 AAC) vs. No. 23 Tulsa (5-2-1, 5-2-1 AAC)
Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium - Dallas, Texas
Tuesday, April 6, 2021 – 3:30 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+
SMU Game Notes (PDF) | Tulsa | American (PDF)
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SMU hosts Tulsa for a midweek matchup on Tuesday, April 6, with a scheduled start time of 3:30 p.m. CT at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium. The second matchup of the season against the Golden Hurricane will be shown on ESPN+. Home matches during the 2020-21 season are closed to the general public.

SERIES HISTORY 
SMU and Tulsa have been playing since 1980 and have faced off every year but one since 1990. The Mustangs are 20-5-2 when playing in Dallas, with the last home loss coming in 2016. Back in March, SMU fell at Tulsa, 2-1 for the third loss of the season. Gabriel Costa scored in the 76th minute to tie the match at one, but Tulsa's Alex Meinhard added the game-winner in the 81st. Cole Johnson recorded six saves in what was his his third collegiate start.

KNOW THE FOE 
Tulsa is sitting at the No. 2 spot in the American standings with a 5-2-1 record and 16 points. The Golden Hurricane has two wins over both UCF and Memphis, one against SMU and a tie with Temple. They have lost against UCF and Temple. In their last outing, Tulsa fell at Temple, 4-1. Temple scored all four of its goals before Tulsa added one of its own in the 79th minute when Jonathan Cervantes converted a penalty kick. The Golden Hurricane is led by 13 upperclassmen and added eight true freshman to this season's roster.

IN THE POLLS
SMU is receiving votes in the sixth week of the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Week one's No. 2 ranking was the highest for any team in AAC history.

THE SEASON'S RESULTS
Papa Ndoye scored his fifth goal of the season in SMU's 2-1 loss at UCF. Ndoye scored in the third minute assisted by Gabriel Costa and SMU held UCF scoreless the rest of the first half. The Knights scored in the 64th and 76th minutes for the win. The Mustangs fell, 2-1, at Tulsa for the third loss of the season. Costa scored SMU's goal in the 76th minute. Cole Johnson finished with six saves. SMU defeated USF for the second time this season, 3-2, in Dallas. Skage Simonsen scored all three goals for the first Mustang hat trick since October of 2019. Johnson earned his first collegiate win with three saves. SMU lost its second match of the season versus UCF, 2-0. The Mustangs had eight shots on goal, but weren't able to finish one. 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 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. Ndoye and Nick Taylor both scored twice in the win at USF and 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. 8 in the nation in scoring offense, outscoring opponents 19-10 in eight games for a goals per game average of 2.38. The team leads the conference in goal differential (9 - 26th NCAA), points per game (6.62 - 16th NCAA) and assists per game (1.88 - 27th NCAA). Papa Ndoye is 5th in the NCAA for shots per game (1st AAC) with 4.33. Noah Hilt is 18th in the NCAA for assists per game (1st AAC) with 0.62.

2020-21 HONORS
  • Harvey Castro - AAC Weekly Honor Roll (March 22)
  • 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)
  • Skage Simonsen - AAC Offensive Player of the Week (March 22), TDS Team of the Week (March 23)
  • 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. He is leading the team with five goals and 26 shots. Skage Simonsen has made a big impact as a transfer, scoring four goals, including a hat trick against USF, which led to his selection as the American's Offensive Player of the Week. 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. Harvey Castro leads the freshman class, having played in all eight games and adding an assist versus USF, earning him a conference Weekly Honor Roll nod. Freshman goalkeeper Cole Johnson has six appearances with four starts and earned his first collegiate win against UCF in Dallas. 2020 midseason transfers consist of Judson Burns from Clemson, Ndoye from LIU, Simonsen from St. John's and Timo Hummrich from Delaware. 2021's midseason transfers are Roman Knox from UNC and Eben Noverr from Virginia.

SENIOR STANGS
Brandon Terwege, Noah Hilt, Luke Thompson and Nick Taylor are the four seniors highlighting the Mustang roster. Terwege was selected by Houston Dynamo FC in the third round of the 2021 MLS SuperDraft with the 57th overall pick. This season, he has helped SMU to three shutouts and has started in seven games, playing all 90 minutes. The defender recorded an assist at USF and had a shot at UCF. Hilt has started all eight games this season and is leading the team with five assists, including two versus Memphis. He also scored a goal against Memphis and has totaled eight shots. Taylor has also started all eight games and scored twice at USF for the first two goals as a Mustang. The midfielder has tallied seven shots while helping the defense to three shutouts. Thompson has played in four games this season and had one shot.

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

UP NEXT 
SMU's regular season finale will take place on Saturday, April 10 at 7 p.m. CT at the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and the program will honor the senior class.
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