SMU Men's Soccer Battles Kentucky, FIU

[PonyPride]

Men's Soccer Battles Kentucky, FIU With C-USA Tournament Implications
Wins vs. Kentucky, FIU Assures C-USA Tournament Berth

Nov. 2, 2009

November 4, 2009 - 12:00 p.m.
SMU Mustangs (6-6-2, 2-2-2 C-USA) at Kentucky Wildcats (11-5-0, 4-3-0 C-USA)
November 7, 2009 - 7:00 p.m.
FIU Golden Panthers (5-10-1, 0-6-1 C-USA) at SMU Mustangs

SMU Battles For a C-USA Tourney Berth Against Kentucky, FIU
After a dramatic 3-3 double-overtime tie against UCF, SMU will face Kentucky and FIU with the fourth and final spot in the C-USA Tournament up for grabs. SMU must win against Kentucky and then win or tie against FIU to assure a berth in the tournament, otherwise Kentucky will qualify for the final spot in the tournament. SMU tied the contest against FIU with two goals in the last five minutes, and Paulo da Silva's tying goal came with 1:17 to play as they overcame a 2-0 and 3-1 deficit to tie UCF. If the Mustangs beat Kentucky, then beat or draw FIU, they will play in the first round of the C-USA Tournament on Nov. 13, hosted by the regular season champion (Marshall, Tulsa, or UAB)

SMU vs. Kentucky
SMU is 5-2 against Kentucky, but have dropped the last two after winning the first five. SMU dropped a 2-1 match at Westcott Field last season, a match that was televised on CBS College Sports.

SMU vs. Florida International
SMU is 13-2 against FIU, having won 13 of the last 14 contests. SMU has outscored FIU 37-14 in those contests, an average of 2.47-0.93 per game. SMU won last season's contest in Miami 2-1.

da Silva Lining
Even though Paulo da Silva has battled injury during his SMU career, he was awarded a medical redshirt and is playing his fifth season on the Hilltop, and has started 13 of 14 games this season. da Silva drained a goal with 1:17 remaining in regulation against UCF on 10/31 to tie the game at 3, give the Mustangs a tie after being down 2-0 and 3-1 earlier in the contest. da Silva is second on the Mustangs with five goals this season. Against Seattle, da Silva recorded the second multi-goal game of his career, and his first since the 2005 NCAA Tournament. da Silva was named to the 2009 CollegeSoccerNews.com Preseason All-American team, and the All-Tournament Team at the adidas-Brown Classic. da Silva was also named to the 2005 All-College Cup team, and has scored the only College Cup goal in SMU history.

A Rosen-bomb
Redshirt freshman Ryan Rosenbaum scored quite possibly the goal of the year with a 95-yard blast against No. 16 Tulsa on 10/21, the game winning goal in a 3-2 contest. His goal was the No. 2 play on the Oct. 22-23 edition of ESPN's SportsCenter, and garnered attention from several national outlets, including the Dallas Morning News, ABC World News, Yahoo!, Deadspin, and The Big Lead. Rosenbaum's blast was not only his first collegiate goal-it came on his first shot. Rosenbaum's game-winner earned him C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for 10/25. Rosenbaum's collegiate debut came on 9/30 vs. Centenary, and he collected his first assist in that game.

The Great Dane
Senior Dane Saintus leads SMU and is tied for the Conference USA lead in goals with eight this season. Additionally, Saintus enters the week ranked tied for 24th in the nation in goals per game (8 goals/14 gm). Saintus has two multi-goal games this season, a hat trick against Centenary (9/30), the Mustangs' first since Duke Hashimoto accomplished the feat on September 24, 2004 against Yale, and posted two-goal effort vs. Yale (9/13). In addition, his five assists entering the week tied him for 56th in the nation. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at the adidas-Brown Classic and the SMU Classic.

Payton The Passer
Payton Hickey enters the week tied for 11th in the nation in assists per game (8 ast/14 gm). Hickey's eight assists lead SMU and Conference USA.

[Terry Webster]

Scoreless at halftime.

[gk00dad]

We lose a heartbraker, 1-0. Had a lot of chances, just couldn't finish. First time we've missed the conference tourney ever.

[DallasDiehard]

Thanks to Paulo da Silva, Dane Saintus and the rest of the seniors. You guys gave everything to this program. I'll be there Saturday night to stand and cheer for you one more time.