No. 4 SMU (10-1-2, 5-0-1 AAC) vs. UAB (0-10-4, 0-6-1 AAC)

Friday, Oct. 27 | 7:00 p.m. CT
PNC Field- Birmingham, Ala.
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SETTING THE SCENE

The Mustangs are undefeated in the AAC and are in the top five in three separate polls: No. 4 - United Soccer Coaches, No. 5 - Top Drawer Soccer and No. 2 - College Soccer News and are ranked No. 4 in RPI.

Three Mustangs earned Top Drawer Preseason All-American honors: Jelldrik Dallman - Second Team, Mads Westergren - Third Team and Jaylinn Mitchell - Freshman

SMU is coming off a 2-0 shutout at Tulsa. One was scored by senior Harvey Castro and the other being scored by Jose Ortiz, allowing the Mustangs to remain undefeated in AAC play.

SMU is 8-0-1 at home this season and 16-1-2 at Washburne Stadium overall.

For the Week ending on Oct. 15, Niv Berkovitz earned his first AAC Offensive Player of the Week award in addition to being named to two national teams of the week, Cole Johnson was also awarded his fourth AAC Goalkeeper of the Week honor., with Kyran Chambron Pinho also being placed on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll.

 

SERIES HISTORY

Oct. 27, 2023 will be the 13th time the two programs have faced off, with the Mustangs going into the match with seven wins, three losses and two ties.

In 2022, SMU won 1-0 at home against UAB.

Going into the match, SMU currently sits at No. 4, with UAB unranked.

 

SUCCESS UNDER HUDDY

Hudson - SMU 99-39-17 (.694) is approaching his 100th win as head coach for the Mustangs.

As a result of his ten wins in the 2023 so far, he now sits just one win away from notching the coveted 100.

Under Hudson as head coach, SMU has five NCAA Tournament appearances, including 3 Elite Eights. Hudson has been with the team since 2007 and was promoted to head coach in 2015.

The last coach to reach 100 wins with the Mustangs was head coach Schellas Hyndman.

 

PRESEASON AND SEASON HONORS

Sophomore forward Alexander Petraeus earned All-AAC Offensive Preseason Player of the Year honors.

Junior defender Mads Westergren earned All-AAC Defensive Preseason Player of the Year honors. 

Three Mustangs earned Top Drawer Preseason All-American honors: Jelldrik Dallman - Second Team, Mads Westergren - Third Team and Jaylinn Mitchell - Freshman

So far this season, SMU has had 14 AAC accolades.

 

BIG SEASON FROM JOHNSON

Just 13 games into the 2023 season, Johnson has already recorded seven shutouts and 31 saves in 1,152 minutes in goal.

Three of Johnson's seven shutouts so far were earned consecutively: 1-0 against then-No. 25 Oral Roberts on Sept. 4, 1-0 against Saint Louis on Sept. 8 and 1-0 against Yale on Sept. 11.

For his efforts, Johnson has since earned AAC Goalkeeper of the Week four times, three of which were earned consecutively following play against Oral Roberts up until the week after the Mustangs' 2-1 win over Memphis

Johnson also earned the AAC Goalkeeper of the Week accolade after posting six saves, including a penalty kick, at USF on Sept. 22.

 

FILLING THE STATS WITH JELLY

Dallmann has been named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List, the most prestigious award in NCAA soccer prior to logging his hat trick against UCA.

He is first in the AAC in goals scored with 10.

Dallmann is also ranked in the top 100 national players by Top Drawer Soccer, coming in at No. 19.

He was named AAC Offensive Player of the Week for the weeks ending on Sept. 25, Oct. 1 and Oct. 8.

 

ASSISTING ON POINT

Bailey Sparks is first in the conference in most assists scored on the season, with five.

As just a sophomore, Sparks' teammate Petraeus has eight total assists so far on his career.

SMU's all time leader in assists is Diego Walsh with 39, he played for the Mustangs from 1999-2002.

 

WASHBURNE'S DOMINANCE

The Mustangs are currently undefeated at home in the 2023 season, 8-0-1 including one win so far over a top 25 team.

SMU's record at Washburne is 15-1-2 since the start of last season.

 

NEW ADDITIONS

The Mustangs have added a 13-player 2023 recruiting class.

This group of newcomers ranks among the top 25 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer. In addition, this marks SMU's fifth consecutive ranked recruiting class.

Lamar Bynum, Jelldrik Dallmann, Martin Dominguez, Richie Garcia and Oliver Hald bring additional experience to the Hilltop as transfers.

The remaining 8 new faces are highly-touted incoming freshmen who make their way to Dallas from California, Illinois, as well as overseas. Three hail from the metroplex.

 

CASH ME OUT

In his time off the pitch, senior midfielder Harvey Castro competed in a field of 1,026 Main Event entries to earn his first WSOP Circuit Ring at the ripe age of 21.

He cashed out with over $275,000.

 

THINKING OF HOME

Freshman Niv Berkovitz scored the first goal of the night against then-No. 25 FIU, promising himself before the game that he would score for his international ties.

In the following game, Berkovitz scored twice against FAU.

Berkovitz is a 21-year-old freshman, hailing to the Hilltop from Israel after serving in the Israeli army.

After scoring his goal against FIU, the military veteran broke down in tears on the field:
"The last two days have been some of the most difficult days of my life,"  Berkovitz said. "I hope all of my friends will come back safely — this was for them — and I want to thank everyone for their support. When I scored the goal, it was a really special moment that I will never forget," Berkvotiz said. "I am grateful for every single player who has supported me and given me the power to keep playing. The coaching staff has done everything they can to make me feel better."

 

OUT CORNERED

The Mustangs have taken more corner kicks than their opponent in every single game this season, except for on the road against Tulsa on Oct. 21.

SENIOR STANGS

This year's senior class includes Cole Johnson, Nathan Ashley, Harvey Castro, Jose Ortiz, Cody Black along with graduate transfer Jelldrik Dallmann.

Dallmann joins the Mustangs as the former ASUN Player of the Year and was also named first-team all-region by United Soccer Coaches.

 

AAC HONORS

The Mustangs have accumulated 14 conference honors so far this season including four offensive player of the week awards, one defensive player of the week award, four goalkeeper of the week honors and eight honor roll nods.

 

AWAITING THE TITLE

Should SMU win over the Blazers, the Mustangs will clinch the regular season conference title.

Following UAB, SMU still has one conference game remaining. ­

 

PONY UP DALLAS

In just seven days after it was announced that the Mustangs will be moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference, SMU has raised $100 million to support the transition to the ACC.

The generous early commitments from a group of thirty donors that includes trustees and key donors  will enable SMU to align and compete with an elite group of national institutions with powerhouse athletic programs.

 

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.

 

UP NEXT

The Mustangs continue their conference slate with their final home game of the regular season against Temple. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1 and the game will be livestreamed on ESPN+. This game also marks as Senior Night for SMU, with the Mustangs having a senior class of six players to honor.