No. 17 SMU (6-1-0, 0-0-0 AAC) at ECU (4-6-0, 0-1-0 AAC)
Johnson Stadium - Greenville, N.C.
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021 – 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: SMU | ECU
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No. 17 SMU kicks off American Athletic Conference play Thursday night at ECU on ESPN+.

ABOUT SMU
•    No. 17 SMU is 6-1 this season, with the only loss coming in overtime at Baylor. 
•    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 4-0-0 at home.
•    Six different players have nine assists on 10 goals by six Mustangs, including four unassisted. 
•    SMU has been outshot 96-64 overall and 39-28 in shots on goal. 
•    SMU is outscoring opponents 11-4 with five shutouts.

GOALKEEPING
•    Samantha Estrada has played in four matches this season with 10 saves and three shutouts.
•    Tatum Sutherland has 24 saves in four matches, including 10 saves for a clean sheet against Oklahoma State, the most since Shannon Moroney had 11 at Connecticut in 2015. 

DEFENSE IS KEY
•    SMU has allowed just four goals this season with five shutouts in six wins. 

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS
•     SMU has scored at least once in all seven matches this season. 
•    The Mustangs scored a season-high four goals in a 4-2 win at Denver, the most since a 4-0 win against ECU on Oct. 22, 2019.
•    SMU has scored 11 times with nine assists. 
•    Courtney Sebazco leads the team with three goals, including gamewinners against Rice and Northwestern State.
•    Jasmine Vilgrain and Wayny Balata each have two goals.
•    Elisabeth Tse, Lindsey Whitmore and Payton Doiron have each scored once.
•    Sebazco, Balata and Tse each have two assists, while Vilgrain, Whitmore and Brooke Golik all have one this season. 

LAST TIME OUT
•    SMU defeated Oklahoma 1-0 for its fifth straight win and fourth straight shutout.
•    Wayny Balata scored the goal, chipping the ball over the goalkeeper, who was off her line after a punchout on a ball served in by Courtney Sebazco.
• Tatum Sutherland recorded four saves on 14 shots for second shutout in three starts. 

SCOUTING ECU
•    The Pirates are 4-6-0 overall, 0-1 in the American Athletic Conference.
•    ECU is 3-1 at home with three shutouts.
•    The Pirates are outscoring opponents 8-3 in Greenville, opponents are outscoring them 16-13 overall.
•    Four players each have a team-high two goals, with five others scoring once.
•    Maeve English has played all but nine minutes in goal with 34 saves.

SERIES HISTORY
•     SMU is 8-6-3 all-time against ECU with a 2-3-1 record on the road. 
•    ECU is one of two opponents SMU played in the spring of 2021, with the Mustangs losing 3-2 in overtime. 
•    The Mustangs have not won in Greenville since Oct. 23, 2005, earning a 2-0 win in the first match of the series. 
•    SMU's last road win in the series was a 1-0 victory played in Raleigh, N.C., due to Hurricane Matthew on Oct. 12, 2016. 

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
•     Tatum Sutherland was named American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Week for the second straight week.
•    She made nine saves in three halves of action in shutout wins against San Francisco and Oklahoma, 
•    Sutherland made all five saves against the Dons after coming on for the second half. She faced nine of 11 San Francisco shots.
•    Against Oklahoma, Sutherland made four saves for her second credited shutout and third win of the season in four matches played. 
•    Courtney Sebazco and Payton Doiron were honored along with Sutherland on Sept. 13. Sebazco earned the league's weekly award for offense, while Doiron was the week's top defender.

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    896
2.    Jerry Smith    Santa Clara    35    511
3.    G Guerrieri    Texas A&M    31    489
4.    Mark Krikorian    Florida State    28    465
5.    Steve Swanson    Virginia    32    441
6.    Randy Waldrum    Pittsburgh    28    426
7.    Chris Petrucelli    SMU    32    422
8.    Jim Blankenship    FGCU    31    417
9.    Jennifer Rockwood    BYU    27    412
10.    Nancy Feldman    Boston    34    411
•Through games played as of Sept. 19, 2021

RANKED
•     SMU is No. 17 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll. 
•    The Mustangs received votes in the first poll of the season, and SMU was ranked 24th last week. 
•    This is the highest SMU has been ranked since earning the No. 17 ranking on Sept. 28, 2004. 
•    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. 

OVERTIME
•     SMU is 30-30-49 all-time in 109 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 0-1-0 in overtime this season. 

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.

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