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Men's soccer No. 1 in national polls for fifth straight week

SMU plays at UAB Wednesday night, at home vs. Marshall Saturday night

For the fifth straight week, the SMU men’s soccer team holds the top spot in four national soccer polls. The Mustangs, with a record of 14-0-3, remain No. 1 in the adidas/NSCAA poll released on Tuesday. SMU is also the top-ranked team in the Soccer Times.com College Coaches poll, the Soccer America.com poll, and the College Soccer News.com poll.

The Mustangs, under the direction of 23rd-year head coach Schellas Hyndman, post a 4-0-2 record in Conference USA play this season and a much-needed win Wednesday night at UAB will go a long ways to securing the 2006 Conference USA regular-season crown, The Mustangs close out the week with a home game against Marshall Saturday evening at Westcott Field. Prior to the game, a ceremony honoring the six Mustang seniors will commence. In its last four years, the 2006 SMU senior class has compiled a record of 57-16-10 (.746 winning percentage) through Oct. 22 with four NCAA Tournament bids, including a 2005 College Cup appearance as well as two regular-season conference titles and two conference tournament titles.

Pony Tales …

** SMU is 2-0-3 in overtime games this season and sports a 27-16-32 record in OT games since 1984 (.583 winning percentage).

** The Mustangs have outscored their opponents, 21-3, in the first half of play so far this season.

** SMU now sports an all-time Conference USA regular-season record of 12-1-2. Since being affiliated with conference play (starting in 1997), the Mustangs have won eight regular-season titles (out of nine years) and five conference tournament titles (out of nine).

** SMU totals 11 shutout victories (out of 17 games) - the most ever recorded by an SMU team is 14, which occurred in 2001. The fewest goals allowed by SMU in a single season is 9, set in 1982.

** SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman needs one more win to eclipse the 450-career win mark.

I was a little worried that the ties would cause the Ponies to slip a little in the polls. Glad to see they get to stay where they belong - NUMBER ONE!

PonyPride wrote:** SMU totals 11 shutout victories (out of 17 games) - the most ever recorded by an SMU team is 14, which occurred in 2001. The fewest goals allowed by SMU in a single season is 9, set in 1982.

The Ponies have allowed just eight goals this season.

Any score update tonight vs. UAB?

SmooBoy wrote:Any score update tonight vs. UAB?

Still nothing?? Hmph.

Final score:
UAB 2
SMU 1

No details yet.

from the UAB home page:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB men's soccer team stunned top-ranked and previously unbeaten SMU, 2-1, here Wednesday evening on senior night. Senior Lukasz Kwapisz and sophomore Trey Gregory each tallied goals in the UAB victory, which marked the fourth ranked team the Blazers have beaten this season.

"Anytime you beat the No. 1 team in the nation it is a pretty big win," UAB head coach Mike Getman said. "We are the first team to beat them this year so that makes it a pretty big win.

"It wasn't until about 1:20 left in the game that I thought `Okay, we have a good chance at this,'" Getman said in reference to his feelings as the time wound down. "You put together a game plan and hope that the players execute it. I don't know if a group of players could execute it any better."

The Blazers pulled off the upset in front of what is believed to be a record crowd of 2,755 fans at West Campus field. The win improves UAB to 8-6-2 on the campaign and 3-3-1 in Conference USA, while SMU drops to 14-1-3 and 4-1-2 in league play.

"The crowd was terrific tonight," Getman said. "They gave us a lot of energy and support and it was great to see the stands filled for this game. I know our players, especially the seniors, appreciated it."

The Blazers wasted no time getting on the board. After missing several good scoring opportunities in the opening 10 minutes of the contest, UAB's persistence paid off in 13th minute. Junior Joe Klosterman cleared a ball from the UAB penalty box that sailed over SMU's back line and on to the foot of a streaking Kwapisz. The Oshawa, Ontario native then outraced the Mustang defenders and deposited a shot into the left netting to give his team an early one-goal lead.

However, the lead did not last long as SMU responded just under a minute later at the 13:36 mark. As senior midfielder Derick Radcliffe attempted to clear the ball from the UAB penalty box, the ball jumped off the wet turf and hit him in his hand, which resulted in a penalty kick. SMU's Mynor Gonzalez converted the kick to even the score at one apiece.

The score would remain that way until Gregory's heroics at the 60:35 mark. Sophomore midfielder Carlo Schiavoni took a free kick from midfield, which found the head of senior forward Jerson Monteiro. The Houston, Texas native then flicked it on to Gregory to tapped it over SMU goalkeeper Matt Wideman's head for the game-winner.

From there, UAB goalkeeper Jeremy Drake and the Blazer defense shut down the Mustang attack, which entering the contest had outscored their opponents by a count of 45-8. Drake made four saves in the victory, and allowed just the penalty kick goal.

SMU outshot UAB 15-9, and doubled the Blazers up on corner kicks, 8-4.

UAB will next be in action when it plays its regular season finale at Florida International on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. ET

http://uabsports.cstv.com/sports/m-socc ... 06aaa.html