DALLAS (SMU) – No. 5 seed SMU Men's Soccer is set to host Washington in the NCAA Championship Second Round at Washburne Stadium on Sunday.
The match will kick off at 1 pm CT and will be aired on ESPN+.
The Mustangs earned their fourth consecutive national seed and first-round bye in the NCAA Championship following their ACC Championship title run.
Mustangs vs. Huskies History
- This will be the ninth meeting between the Mustangs and the Huskies. Second consecutive meeting in the NCAA Championship Second Round.
- In their last meeting, SMU advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Championship with a 2-1 win in Dallas. Owen Zarnick scored a late 86th-minute winner.
- SMU has won both meetings at home against Washington. Their first meeting in Dallas was in 1990, when the Mustangs won 2-1 against the then-No. 15-ranked Washington.
- This will be the two teams' second NCAA Championship meeting.
NCAA Championship Deja Vu
- SMU played Washington in the second round of the NCAA Championship at home last season.
- SMU won courtesy of a late 89th-minute winner by Owen Zarnick.
- Stephan Soghomonian scored his second goal for the Mustangs in that match.
- In a tight match, Washington had 13 shots to SMU's 11 in last season's meeting. The Mustangs have five shots on goal to UW's four.
ACC Championship Title Run
- The Mustangs came into the ACC Championship as the No. 7 seed and defeated Wake Forest, Stanford, Syracuse and Virginia to win SMU's first ACC Championship title.
- Slade Starnes was named ACC tournament MVP. Stephan Soghomonian, Ryan Clanton-Pimentel and Martin Dominguez were included in the all-tournament team.
- SMU scored five goals in the first and semifinal round matches.
- Won the highest-scoring ACC Championship match at home against Wake Forest (5-4).
Talking Stats
Postseason Awards
Postseason Notes
- This marks the fourth consecutive season the Mustangs have earned a national seed and a first-round bye.
- The Mustangs are one of four ACC teams to secure a national seed (Virginia, Stanford and NC State).
- SMU heads into its 37th NCAA tournament appearance after winning the university's first ACC title on Sunday.
- SMU has won 11 conference tournament titles.
NCAA Tournament By The Numbers
- Overall program history: 37 NCAA Tournament Appearances, 26 Sweet Sixteen Appearances, 14 Elite Eight Appearances, two College Cup appearances (2000 & 2005).
- This is Head Coach Kevin Hudson's eighth NCAA Championship appearance.
- SMU made its fifth Sweet Sixteen and second Elite Eight appearances under Head Coach Kevin Hudson last season.
Last Time At Home
- SMU won 5-4 against Wake Forest in the highest-scoring match in ACC Championship history.
- It was the most goals SMU has scored in a single match since they beat Central Arkansas 5-0 on Aug. 28, 2023.
- It was the most total goals scored in a single match that includes SMU since the Mustangs beat FIU 6-4 on Sep. 23, 2022.
- Each goal was scored by a different player. The last time SMU had five players score a goal in a single match was against UTRGV (7-2) on September 5, 2022.
- Charles-Emile Brunet became the first Mustang to make three or more assists in a single match since Gabriel Costa (4) against Temple in 2021.
- Enzo Panozzo scored his first goal of the season. The goal is his second career goal--his first career goal was also against Wake Forest last season.
- Hickam, Slade Starnes and Enzo Panozzo scored their first goals of the season. Hickam and Starnes scored their first goals for SMU.
Stepped Up
- Stephan Soghomonian leads SMU with 13 goals this season.
- Is on a four-game scoring streak.
- Scored SMU's ACC Championship goal from the penalty spot. Scored in every round of the tournament and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
- He was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 and Oct. 21.
- He is the ACC's second top scorer in conference play with six goals against ACC teams in the regular season.
- Scored a hat trick against California (Oct. 3) and Boston College (Oct. 18).
- He became the first Mustang to score a hat trick after almost two years in the Mustangs' 4-0 win against Cal on Oct. 3. The previous Mustang to score a hat trick was Jelldrik Dallmann against Temple on Nov. 9, 2023.
- He scored his hat trick against Cal from the bench with only 44 minutes of play time.
Slade Bosses The Backline
- Slade Starnes was named ACC Championship MVP after captaining the Mustangs' backline to only letting one goal through the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final matches of the tournament.
- Starnes was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week twice on Sep. 30 and Oct. 28.
- The Mustangs' defense locked down UVA to no shots on target in the ACC championship match.
- He captained the Mustangs' defensive line to hand Stanford its first draw/loss at home this season.
- He and the Mustangs' backline have contained opponents to an average of only 8.5 shot attempts per game. Limiting five teams (Boston College, Cal, LMU, Oral Roberts and Virginia) to five shot attempts or less.
SMU vs Top 25 Opponents
- SMU is 3-1-3 against Top-25 teams this season.
- The Mustangs are coming off a win against No. 4 Virginia in the ACC Championship match.
- SMU grabbed its first ranked win at No. 21 Notre Dame (Sep. 27).
- The Mustangs drew 1-1 against No. 2 Clemson and they also drew No. 18 Kansas City 2-2 to kick off the season.
- SMU was 4-3-3 against top 25 opponents last season after falling in the NCAA Quarterfinals to No. 8 Marshall..
Scouting Washington
- Washington finished second in the Big 10 regular season final standings.
- They advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship for the second year in a row after defeating Oregon State 3-2 in overtime.
- Charlie Kosakoff leads the Huskies' offense with eight goals this season.
FIFA World Cup At Washburne Stadium
- Washburne Stadium will be an official training ground for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
