SMU (0-0-0, 0-0-0 AAC) at No. 9 TCU (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Big 12)
Garvey Rosenthal Soccer Stadium - Fort Worth, Texas
Thursday, Aug. 17 | 7 p.m. CT
ESPN+ | Live Stats
SMU Notes | TCU
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SETTING THE SCENE
•    SMU enters the 2023 season after a 10-4-5 campaign in 2022 that ended in a trip to play for the AAC Conference Tournament Championship against Memphis in Orlando, Fla.
•    SMU tied for 5th in the final AAC standings with the No. 2 through No. 6 seeds being separated by just 4 points.
•    SMU tallied a 3-1-4 record on the road in 2022. All three of the Mustangs' non-conference road games (Tennessee, Oklahoma, San Francisco) ended in a draw.
•    SMU was 5-0-3 in non-conference games in 2022.
•    SMU's season opener at TCU will be the first of seven lone star state matchups featured on its 2023 schedule. 

SERIES HISTORY
• SMU holds an all-time record of 28-4-3 against TCU. The in-state foes' last matchup came in 2019 and resulted in a 1-0 Horned Frogs victory.

PRESEASON POLLS
•     SMU is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 preseason poll. The Mustangs join Memphis (No. 20) as the two AAC programs either ranked or receiving votes in the 2023 preseason poll.
• SMU was one of two teams voted to win the American Athletic Conference Championship in the 2023 AAC Preseason Poll.The Mustangs acquired the third most points (50) in the poll, and received one vote to win the conference. Votes for SMU placed the team with the second most points in the West Division. The Mustangs also received one vote to win the West Division.

MUSTANG CAPTAINS
•    Graduate Student Sam Estrada played and started in 9 games in 2022. The El Paso, Texas, native won AAC Goalkeeper of the Week (Sept. 26). Estrada saved 35 shots, posted 4 shutouts and obtained a goal-against average of .51 in 2022.
•    Graduate Student Wayny Balata played in 11 games for the Mustangs, starting seven. The Montreal, Quebec, native scored four goals and assisted on one in 2022. Balata also led the conference in penalty kicks (1).
•    Senior Mackenzie Rudden played in all 19 games and started 12 in her first season with SMU. The Phoenix, Az., native scored the lone goal in the Mustangs' 1-0 win over Baylor and assisted on two scores in 2022. 

RETURNING SCORERS
•    SMU returns five players who scored at least one goal during the 2022 season. 
 • Wayny Balata, Sammy Nieves, Mackenzie Rudden, Kaya Lee and Peyton Annen combined for a total of ten goals last season. Balata (4) tied for the Mustangs' second most scores in 2022.

LAST TIME OUT
•    Memphis' Taylor Shae scored the only goal of the match in the 99th as SMU fell 1-0 in overtime in the AAC Final in Orlando. SMU had its best chance to even the match in the 106th minute when Julissa Cisneros put one on frame that Memphis goalkeeper Claire Wyville barely got a hand on to deflect it. The rebound shot by Jewel Boland went just right of the goal. SMU made a run under first-year head coach Nicole Nelson, reaching the AAC title game for the first time since 2016. The Mustangs entered the final on a four-game win streak. 

OPPONENT(S) HISTORY
•    SMU is looking to further its historical dominance to begin the 2023 season. The Mustangs currently hold a 44-5-6 all-time record against its first five opponents, including a 28-4-3 record against season-opening match-up and Metroplex rival TCU. 

UP NEXT
•     SMU's second game will serve as a home-opening doubleheader with the men's soccer team at Washburne Stadium. Women's soccer will open against Houston Christian University  at 5:30 pm, followed by the men's matchup versus UTRGV.

COACHES CORNER
•     Second-year head coach Nicole Nelson enters the 2023 season after 10-4-5 campaign in her inaugural season at SMU. In Nelson's first season as head coach at SMU, the Mustangs finished 10-4-5, reaching the AAC Tournament Final for the first time since 2016. The Mustangs were undefeated out of conference with a 5-0-3 mark and were as high as No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25. The program set season records for goals against average (0.68) and save percentage (.854).  
•    Nelson had previously spent eight seasons as an Associate Head Coach and Assistant Coach for the Mustangs from 2012-2019 under former head coach Chris Petrucelli.
•    Prior to her time on the Hilltop, Nelson served as head coach at Oklahoma (2007-11), assistant coach under Petrucelli at Texas (2006-07), recruiting coordinator/assistant coach at Baylor (2005), and head coach at Stephen F. Austin (2002-04). 

RECENT RECORDS
• SMU set two program defensive records in 2022. The Mustangs finished the year with a .854 (13 GA, 76 saves) save percentage and a .68 (13 GA, 1730 min) goals against average. 
• The two team records were made possible with a tremendous defensive outing throughout 2022, a season in which SMU allowed 1 or fewer goals in 15 of its 19 games (including AAC Conference Tournament Championship). SMU also tied for the program's 10th best season shutout tallies (8). 
• Goalkeepers Sam Estrada and Tatum Sutherland found themselves in the record books. Estrada posted the program's second-lowest goal against average (.51) through 701 minutes of play, while Sutherland acheived the fifth-lowest (.80) in 1008 minutes.

RETURNING MUSTANGS
• The Mustangs return 16 players from the 2022 season.
• All 16 returners saw action in 2022, including six who played in all 19 games.
• Returning Mustangs account for 10 of 27 goals scored (37%), 15 of 21 assists made (71%), and 35 of 75 points accrued (47%) throughout the 2022 season. 
• SMU returns both of its primary goalkeepers in Samantha Estrada and Tatum Sutherland.

NEW MUSTANGS
• SMU added eight freshmen and one transfer to its 2023 roster. 
•    Sophomore Layla Garcia-Moreno from Angamacutiro Michoacan, Mexico and freshman Nyah Rose from Markham, Ontario,  join two other Mustangs who originate from outside the United States (Wayny Balata - Montreal, Quebec; Mayu Inokawa - Saitama, Japan).
•    Four 2023 additions are Texas natives - freshmen Truth Byars (Richardson), Treasure Byars (Richardson), Emma Alvord (Argyle) and Aubrey Brown (Irving).

2023 AAC WATCHLIST
• Sam Estrada, Wayny Balata and Peyton Annen were all named to the AAC Women's Soccer Watch List to begin the 2023 season.
• Estrada was awarded the AAC Goalkeeper of the Week and named AAC Weekly Honor Roll twice in 2022.
• Balata was an Preseason All-AAC selection in 2022, a season in which she ranked first in the conference for penalty kicks (1).
• Annen was selected to the AAC All-Rookie Team and honored once as the AAC Rookie of the Week in 2022.

BACK ON THE HILLTOP
• SMU alum and former standout on the pitch Claire Oates has rejoined to the program, this time serving as a graduate assistant under Head Coach Nicole Nelson. She returns to the Hilltop after playing professional soccer overseas for US Citta di Pontedera, FC Saarbrücken and JyPK.
• Oates played her last of four seasons for the Mustangs in 2017. She started 81 games, scored 23 goals and tallied 6 assists in her career and was selected as First Team All-AAC in 2017. Oates was also honored as Second Team All-AAC in 2015 and 2016, and was named AAC Rookie of the Year in 2014.