No. 14 SMU Hosts UCF Thursday Night On ESPN+

No. 14 SMU (7-1-0, 1-0-0 AAC) vs. UCF (5-4-0, 0-2-0 AAC)
Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium - Dallas, Texas
Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 – 7 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: SMU | UCF
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No. 14 SMU hosts UCF Thursday night. The contest is the first home American Athletic Conference match for the Mustangs, who started league play with a 2-0 win at ECU.

ABOUT SMU
•   No. 14 SMU is 7-1 this season, 1-0 in the American Athletic Conference, 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 116-77 overall and 47-35 in shots on goal.
•   SMU is outscoring opponents 12-4 with six shutouts.

IN THE TOP 25
•    SMU is No. 14 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, its third week in the top 25.
•   The Mustangs received votes in the first poll of the season, and SMU was ranked 18th last week.
•   This 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.

LAST TIME OUT
•   SMU defeated ECU 2-0 for its six straight win and fifth straight shutout.
•   Courtney Sebazco scored on a header from Lindsey Whitmore. It was the fourth goal of the year for Sebazco.
•     Whitmore scored the second goal on a cross from Katina Tsapos. It was her second goal of the season.
•   The assists was the first point of the season for Tsapos.

SCOUTING UCF
•   The Knights are 5-4 overall, 2-2 on the road, and 0-2 in league play.
•   UCF has been shutout only twice in nine matches, losing 2-0 to LSU and 1-0 at Houston.
•   The Knights have scored three or more goals three times, going 3-0 in such matches, with a season-high five goals in a 5-0 win against Stetson.
•   UCF has four shutout wins, scoring multiple goals in all four matches.

SERIES HISTORY
•   SMU is 7-15-1 all-time against UCF.
•   The Mustangs are 2-6 at home against the Knights.
•   SMU snapped a six-match losing streak on Oct. 2, 2016 with a 3-1 win in Orlando, Fla.
•   The Mustangs are 2-2-1 since ending the streak.
•   UCF has won the last four matches played in Dallas.
•   SMU's last win in the series came on Oct. 18, 2018, with a 1-0 win with UCF ranked 24th.
•   This is just the second match in the series played in September. SMU won 1-0 at home on Sept. 23, 2011, with UCF ranked 19th.

SHUTOUTS AND STREAKS
•   SMU has won six straight matches, the longest win streak since the Mustangs won 11 straight in 2006.
•   SMU has 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.

POINTS LEADER
•   Courtney Sebazco has four goals on 12 shots this season. She scored on a penalty kick in a 1-0 win at Rice.
•   She has goals in three games, scoring twice against Northwestern State and once at Rice and at ECU, earning credit for the game winner in all three matches.
•   Sebazco has two assists, playing a role in six of SMU's 13 goals scored.
•   The midfielder has a team-high 10 points. Wayney Balata and Lindsey Whitmore both have six points with two goals and two assists each.

FIRE AWAY
•   Wayny Balata has team highs in shots, 24, and shots on goal, 11. She has scored twice and has two assists.
•   Balata scored at Denver and had the game winner against Oklahoma.
•   She put a season-high four shots on goal at ECU.

ALL ABOUT ACCURACY
•   Jasmine Vilgrain has two goals on eight shots, placing four on target.
•   She scored the game winner against San Francisco, and also had a goal and an assist at Denver.
•   Lindsey Whitmore has taken seven shots and scored twice. Four shots have been on target, for a team-best .571 SOG% among players with more than one shot.
•   She scored at Denver and at ECU. The transfer also had assists at Denver and ECU.

TOUGHING IT OUT
•   Katina Tsapos has played every minute in each of the last six matches at midfield. The graduate student is in her sixth season at SMU, battling through multiple knee surgeries.
•   She has played in all eight 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. She added an assist at Denver.
•   Payton Doiron scored the game winner against Oklahoma State.
•   Brooke Golik assisted on the game winner against San Francisco.

TOP 25 RANKINGS
Top 25 This Season   No. 24 - Sept. 14, 2021
                                   No. 17 - Sept. 21, 2021
                                   No. 14 - Sept. 28, 2021
Highest Since           No. 14 - Oct. 16, 2000
Highest All-Time       No. 3 - 1995 Final Poll

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.

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   897
2.   Jerry Smith   Santa Clara   35   511
3.   G Guerrieri   Texas A&M   31   489
4.   Mark Krikorian   Florida State   28   467
5.   Steve Swanson   Virginia   32   443
6.   Randy Waldrum   Pittsburgh   28   427
7.   Chris Petrucelli   SMU   32   423
8.   Jim Blankenship   FGCU   31   419
T-9.   Jennifer Rockwood   BYU   27   412
T-9.   Nancy Feldman   Boston   34   412
•Through games played as of Sept. 27, 2021

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.

GAME WINNERS
Aug. 22   Northwestern State   Courtney Sebazco
Sept. 9   Oklahoma State   Payton Doiron
Sept. 12   Rice   Courtney Sebazco
Sept. 16   San Francisco   Jasmine Vilgrain
Sept. 19   Oklahoma   Wayny Balata
Sept. 23   ECU   Courtney Sebazco

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Wayny Balata

Payton Doiron

Brooke Golik

Courtney Sebazco

Katina Tsapos

Elisabeth Tse

Jasmine Vilgrain

Lindsey Whitmore

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