There will be a special group of fans in the stands when the SMU women's soccer team takes the field against Cal on Sunday.
The Mustangs are celebrating former players with the Alumni Game, including one special group in particular.
"They laid the original foundation for this program," Nelson said of the players who have worn the SMU jersey. "It's the 30th year anniversary of the team that went to the Final Four. A lot of that group will be at the game and then their team will be recognized at the Hall of Fame Banquet next week ."
The Alumni Game has grown through the years, including a strong showing last year. The Final Four team beat Duke in the regular season and then defeated North Carolina State to reach the College Cup.
That 1995 team was the last to play in the Southwest Conference, bringing added excitement and appreciation for the move into the ACC.
"We had a great turnout against Florida State (last year), we probably had 40 plus alumni in attendance," Nelson said. "We appreciate their support and the foundation they laid 30 years ago. ACC teams are opponents they played against, often, especially the women that are my age."
While Sunday is the designated Alumni Game, there have been former players at games throughout the season.
"We love all of our alumni staying connected to our program and we appreciate their support," Nelson said.
The Mustangs enter the match on a two-game unbeaten streak, defeating Pittsburgh 4-0 on the road and playing Miami to a scoreless draw last week.
It is the second time in three weeks that the Mustangs have had a full week between games. The last time came before the goal outburst — four goals in 17 minutes — against the Panthers. That extra time is rare during the season, and SMU hopes to take advantage of it.
"It's nice to have extra days of training," Nelson said. "Really nice because we don't get many training days right now. So we'll have a solid week of training and we do have some specific things we want to work on."
Sunday begins a grueling stretch of schedule with the Mustangs playing five of their final six regular season games against teams at least receiving votes in the rankings.
