No. 1 And Still Hungry: SMU Men's Soccer Embraces The Challenge
Oct 14 | Men's Soccer
For the third consecutive week, SMU Men's Soccer sits atop the national rankings. The Mustangs have no intention of getting comfortable there.
Undefeated through 11 games, with 10 wins and one draw, SMU has backed up its No. 1 ranking with the kind of performances that have made it one of the nation's most complete teams. The Mustangs are also unbeaten through five ACC games as they prepare to host No. 25 Stanford on Friday night.
When SMU climbed from No. 5 to No. 3 before taking over the top spot, it marked the program's first time at No. 1 since November 2006. Rather than shy away from the expectations that come with the ranking, Head Coach Kevin Hudson wants his team to embrace them.
"AÂ lot of coaches will say the ranking is based on prior results and things you've done in the past and it's not an indicator of future success," Hudson said. "I say, 'Let's embrace it.' We're 10-0-1 and the team has played well. We've been in good form, things have fallen our way. It's not every day you're ranked No. 1, so let's embrace it, let's play with a little edge."
SMU's unbeaten start is its first through 11 games since 2019, and it didn't happen by accident.
Through 11 games last season, the Mustangs were 5-3-3 overall and 2-1-2 in conference play. After a slow start, establishing a different standard from the beginning became a priority this offseason.
"Last year we didn't start off too well, and this year we really focused on starting off well and the details from the beginning," senior defender Villads Landsperg said. "That's been the motivating factor from the beginning."
That attention to detail has produced a team that can hurt opponents in multiple ways.
The Mustangs lead the nation in scoring at 3.09 goals per game while allowing just three goals through 11 contests, good for a 0.273 goals-against average. SMU's 34 goals scored and three goals conceded give the Mustangs the nation's best goal differential at +31.
That balance was on full display on Saturday, in a 6-0 win over Duke. Six different Mustangs scored, while nine players contributed.
"This team is different than some of the teams we've had in the past, it has multiple ways to beat you," Hudson said. "So if a team wants to sit low in a five and tell us to go through, well we'll put through. If you want to force us to go around the edges, we'll go around the edges."
On the year, 12 different players have scored, led by junior forward Stephan Soghomonian with seven goals. Five Mustangs have at least three goals, while Ryan Clanton-Pimentel leads the team with seven assists.
While SMU's offensive production draws plenty of attention, its defensive numbers are just as impressive. The Mustangs have conceded just three goals in 11 games and have recorded eight shutouts, including four in five ACC games. No opponent has scored more than once against SMU this season.
That success starts with goalkeeper Jonathan Evans and a back line featuring Landsperg, Enzo Panozzo and Noah Holmstrøm.Â
Panozzo is in his fourth season at SMU, while Landsperg is in his second. Evans and Holmstrøm joined this offseason and quickly found their place, building chemistry on and off the field.
"I came in the first day of January and we had a lot of work to do, but it was perfect from the first day. I just fit right in," Holmstrøm said. "Enzo, especially, has been here a lot of years, took me under his wing. Villads and I knew each other a little bit and we have that Danish connection. I came in with Jonathan and got really close with all those boys. We have a really good bond off the field as well."
The chemistry is evident in the results, but the defensive success extends well beyond the back three and goalkeeper.
The commitment to defense allows SMU to adjust its approach without losing its identity. No matter the defensive game plan, everyone understands the assignment.
"I think it's the backline and Jonathan, but the team is committed with all 11 players to defend," Hudson said. "I think we've shown the ability to defend higher up the field. We've shown the ability to defend in different shapes. And we have a mature group that's intelligent that's asks good questions and if we ask them to do anything out of the norm, they'll embrace it, take the information and process it."
While the numbers tell the story of SMU's start, it's the team's mentality that helps explain why the Mustangs believe it can continue.
Even after reaching the top of the rankings, the group has maintained the same sense of urgency that carried it through the early part of the season. Success hasn't changed its expectations; it has raised them.
"We just try and stick with the same intensity every week," Soghomonian said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing. Coming into this, we knew where we stood, and it didn't matter where they were, and how they were playing. We keep telling ourselves we just have more in us and we have another gear."
That mindset is particularly important in a conference as demanding as the ACC. SMU opened league play with a 3-1 win over current No. 7 Pittsburgh before defeating NC State, last season's national runner-up.
SMU has a history of success in men's soccer, including regular appearances in the national rankings and NCAA Tournament and two trips to the College Cup. The Mustangs won last year's ACC Tournament, but Hudson sees that championship as a step toward something bigger.
"Last year to win the league tournament was like knocking on the door to the big boys and asking, 'Can we come in?'" Hudson said. "I don't think we're quite in yet. So the challenge was, 'Can we knock down the door? Can we show the NC States and all the top teams in the country that we'll compete?'"
So far, the answer has been emphatic.
With each win, the belief within the program continues to grow, and Hudson sees a team increasingly confident in its ability to compete with the nation's best.
"Do I think we belong? We belong. I know that wholeheartedly we belong in the league," Hudson said. "I would like to, someday, establish us as one of the teams that people look at and say, 'The ACC, SMU is normally at the top of that league.' But that's really hard."Â
The Mustangs aren't looking back to last year's championship or treating the current ranking as an accomplishment in itself. They know this team must earn its own success.
"We threw what we did last year out the window," Panozzo said. "That doesn't really matter to us. Obviously we have some returners for that team, but this is a new team. We've got to earn our way, and this is just one step in the process to getting what we want."
The same thing applies to being No. 1 — it doesn't come with a trophy.
"I think we know where we are, but I also think we have this sense of urgency and hunger that we can be better," Soghomonian said. "We're No. 1 right now, but we still haven't won anything. We want to be better. We know there's more in us and we'll just continue what we're doing."
That combination of experience and hunger will be tested again Friday against Stanford, which held the No. 1 ranking earlier this season.
The Mustangs approached their trip to Wake Forest the same way they prepared for Duke at home, and they intend to bring that same mentality into Friday's matchup.
"I think, obviously, we're well aware of where we're at, but it doesn't change our approach or how we do anything in practice, how we approach every game," Holmstrøm said. "That's the beautiful thing about the game of football, especially in college, everyone can beat everyone, everyone can lose to everyone if you're not there on that day, so we take every game as if it's the last one."
The competitive challenge is part of why SMU wanted to be in the ACC in the first place. Even before joining the ACC, the Mustangs sought out difficult nonconference opponents. Now, that ambition is matched by a conference schedule that offers little room for complacency.
For Hudson, that's exactly the point.
"It is daunting, but unbelievably exciting as well," Hudson said. "In that every single time we step out it's like; 'Holy cow, this is a team that on any day can beat any team in the country.' It doesn't get easier. … It's an unbelievable challenge, but why the heck are we doing this if we're not going to try to beat the best teams."
