No. 2 SMU (7-1-0, 2-0-0 AAC) vs. GCU (5-3-0, 0-0-0 WAC)

Friday, Sept. 27 | 7:00 p.m. CT

Washburne Stadium - Dallas, Texas 

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SMU Notes | Grand Canyon | American

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SETTING THE SCENE

The Mustangs sit ranked first in the conference and are in the top five in three separate polls: No. 2 - United Soccer Coaches, No. 2 - Top Drawer Soccer and No. 2 - College Soccer News and are ranked No. 5 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 6-0 at home this season and 14-1-1 at Washburne Stadium overall. The Mustangs most recently beat the University of South Florida, 2-1, in SMU's second conference game of the season.

Dallmann is one of just 37 players on the watch list for the nation's highest individual honor - The Hermann Trophy.

Three Mustangs were honored with Conference Weekly Honors for the week ending Sept. 24 - Cole Johnson for the third consecutive AAC Goalkeeper of the Week, Jelldrik Dallmann for AAC Offensive Player of the Week and Mads Westergren was named to the weekly honor for their efforts against USF.

 

SERIES HISTORY

Sept. 27, 2023 marks the first meeting between the two prorams.

Going into the match, SMU currently sits at No. 6, with Grand Canyon unranked.

 

SUCCESS UNDER HUDDY

Hudson - SMU 96-39-15 (.690) is approaching his 100th win as head coach for the Mustangs.

As a result of his seven wins in the 2023 so far, he now sits just four wins 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

For the Week ending on Sept. 24, Cole Johnson earned AAC Goalkeeper of the Week, Jelldrik Dallman and Mads Westergren earned AAC Honor Roll.

 

BIG SEASON FROM JOHNSON

Just eight games into the 2023 season, Johnson has already recorded four shutouts and 23 saves in 720 minutes in goal.

Three of Johnson's four shutouts so far were earned consecutively.

 

FILLING THE STATS WITH JELLDRIK

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 second in the AAC in goals scored.

He has been named AAC Conference Player of the Week two times so far this season.

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

 

FILLING THE STATS WITH PETRAEUS

Petraeus is tied for second in the conference in most assists scored on the season, along with his teammate Bailey Sparks.

As just a sophomore, 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, 6-0, including one win so far over a top 25 team.

SMU's record at Washburne is 14-1-1 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.

 

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.

 

NCAA POWER RANKINGS

Andrew McDevitt with NCAA men's soccer placed SMU at No. 2 in his most recent Power Five rankings on Sept. 25.

 

PONY UP DALLAS

In just seven days, SMU has raised $100 million to support the Mustangs' transition to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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, benefitting both SMU Athletics and the entire University community.

Notably, the move has immediately raised SMU's profile, with media coverage of the move generating more than $163 million in advertising value in the first three days. In that same small window, SMU also experienced a 103% increase in visitors to its undergraduate admissions homepage.

 

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 play at home on Wednesday, Oct. 4 with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. against Charlotte. The game will be livestreamed on ESPN+.