Men's Soccer 2011 Schedule Breakdown

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Game 9 - at UCLA - September 25 at Los Angeles, CA

Save the best for last?

The non-conference portion of SMU's schedule concludes at UCLA, who was a fellow Elite Eight member in last season's NCAA Tournament.

Let's see - their two leading scorers last season were freshmen, their top keeper will be a senior this season, and they return all ELEVEN starters from last season. UCLA was 16-5-1 last year, with a 8-2 conference record (and a 9-1 home record). They have also added two transfers for next year in addition to their stellar recruiting class.

Obviously, this one is going to be very tough - and it should certainly be a good measuring stick for the Mustangs before Conference USA competition starts. This match will also be UCLA's final test before their conference play starts.

What else can be said about this one - both teams are loaded with tons of young talent, and it certainly could be one of the most entertaining matches of the season (well, at least until the NCAA Tournament!). By this point, both of these teams could very well be in the Top 5.

Let's hope UCLA provides a good stream!!! (or ESPNU or CBSC picks it up)

Conference play begins at Westcott with UCF, who just happened to finish second in the conference last season.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Game 10 - Central Florida - October 1 at Westcott Field

As if the non-conference portion of SMU's schedule could have been any more challenging, conference play starts against the only C-USA team to defeat the Mustangs during the 2010 regular season.

Last season's 2-1 defeat to Central Florida in Orlando was SMU's first loss on the season last year, and remained the only blemish on the schedule until the conference tournament. The loss was not embarrssing by any means, as UCF ended up second in the conference. The Golden Knights also made a bit of a run in the NCAA tournament, where they destroyed South Florida in the first round, and then lost in overtime to eventual Final Four particpant Michigan in Ann Arbor.

One odd note - SMU and UCF both threw away first round Conference USA tournament byes by losing in the conference semifinals.

Anyway, on to this season. Central Florida appears to be mainly intact from last season. Their leading scorer Nik Robson (11G, 9A) will only be a junior. Their top goalkeeper also returns from a roster that only lost three seniors from last season. The program also appears to be stable since they have just extended the contract of their head coach through 2014.

It would be interesting to comment on Central Florida's preparation for this match, but UCF actually hasn't released their soccer schedule yet! They also didn't do a press release on their recruiting class so who knows if they have added any instant impact players.

Obviously, revenge will be on the mind of the Mustangs after losing to UCF last season. Having this matchup at Wescott this season will certainly be an advantage. SMU also has a full five days after the UCLA game to rest and prepare for this one since there is no mid-week game scheduled leading up to the UCF game.

After such a challenging non-conference schedule, SMU could be set up for a letdown - but having conference play start at home and against Central Florida should be enough motivation for SMU to take care of business and get conference play off to a great start.

Next is a short trip north to Tulsa, who finished sixth in the conference last season.

[Corso]

Game 9 - at UCLA - September 25 at Los Angeles, CA

Save the best for last?

The non-conference portion of SMU's schedule concludes at UCLA, who was a fellow Elite Eight member in last season's NCAA Tournament.

Let's see - their two leading scorers last season were freshmen, their top keeper will be a senior this season, and they return all ELEVEN starters from last season. UCLA was 16-5-1 last year, with a 8-2 conference record (and a 9-1 home record). They have also added two transfers for next year in addition to their stellar recruiting class.

Obviously, this one is going to be very tough - and it should certainly be a good measuring stick for the Mustangs before Conference USA competition starts. This match will also be UCLA's final test before their conference play starts.

What else can be said about this one - both teams are loaded with tons of young talent, and it certainly could be one of the most entertaining matches of the season (well, at least until the NCAA Tournament!). By this point, both of these teams could very well be in the Top 5.

Let's hope UCLA provides a good stream!!! (or ESPNU or CBSC picks it up)

Conference play begins at Wescott with UCF, who just happened to finish second in the conference last season.

The UCLA game sounds like it could be a matchup of top-5 teams if all goes well.

[Corso]

Tulsa might have finished sixth last year, but that team is better than that. Thankfully, I think a bunch of their studs graduated. But getting past UCF before that will be no small feat.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Tulsa might have finished sixth last year, but that team is better than that. Thankfully, I think a bunch of their studs graduated. But getting past UCF before that will be no small feat.

I still think it's good to have UCF right off the bat since it should help the team get focused on the conference schedule, but it certainly is not going to be easy.

It's interesting both the men and women open the conference at Westcott against UCF - both games will really give us a good feel for how the conference seasons will go...

I haven't looked at Tulsa yet, but they did play us tough last season - and they always have the advantage of getting to at least see us twice before we actually play since we each participate in each other's tournament.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Game 11 - Tulsa - October 5 at Tulsa

An interesting road match awaits the Mustangs as SMU heads a few hours north to Tulsa. The Tulsa matches are always interesting since both teams have seen each other in person a few times before they actually play since each team participates in the other team's home tournaments. Tulsa was 12-7-2 last season, with an impressive 5-2-2 record. Interestingly, they were 0-2-2 at home in conference play.

Tulsa did lose their top two scorers from last season, which includes 21 of their 42 total goals. Their top keeper also graduated, but they did manage to get his replacement 485 minutes in 6 appearances last season.

The Golden Hurricane is apparently in the process of getting younger - they only lost four seniors from last year, but brought in 10 new recruits. This season they also only have five seniors on their roster. None of the recruits appear to be instant impact makers for this season.

Tulsa will certainly be prepared for what should be a highly ranked Mustangs team - their two games prior to the SMU game are a home game against Akron and a road game at South Carolina.

Obviously, this game is one SMU can not take lightly. Tulsa played us very close at Wescott last season (a 3-2 SMU victory) and they are always up for scoring their share of goals. This trip will also be the first two-game conference road trip for the Mustangs. Still, this is the kind of game SMU should be able to handle.

The second leg of the road trip will be at Marshall - the second match of three straight road conference games for the Mustangs.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Only 20 days until William and Mary!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Thanks for the very detailed breakdown. Grabbed season tix this year. Should be fun!

Awesome!

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Game 12 - at Marshall - October 8 at Huntington, WV

Marshall should be an interesting trip for the Mustangs. They did go 9-5-4 last season, with a somewhat respectable 3-4-1 conference record. The Thundering Herd was also an eye-opening 5-2-1 at home last season. They are also returning the majority of their roster from last season (only losing four seniors), and their head coach is in his 24th season so there is no worry about any lack of continuity in their program.

Marshall returns their leading scorers and goalkeeper this season as well, so this sets up as a game the Mustangs definitely need to take seriously.

Last season, the Herd scored 31 goals and only allowed 20 (why does it seem like everybody scores more than they give up?) - but interestingly nobody on their roster scored more than 4 goals last year and they had 13 different players find the back of the net. On the surface, they appear to be a pretty decent squad with some good coaching. Marshall also took SMU to overtime last season at Wescott before the Mustangs prevailed 2-1.

To be honest, this one kind of has the feeling of a danger match when you consider the schedule preceding this one and the always strange travel experiences to Huntington. Hopefully, the Mustangs are mature enough to take care of this one.

Next up for SMU - another long road trip to South Carolina for what is likely to be a physical match.

[gk00dad]

Can't wait. Plan on coming up for William and Mary game. Craig has been working with the keepers and says the team looks really good, maybe even better than last year. Just need to find their identity.

[ponyscott]

Holy crap???!!..What kind of killer schedule is this?.....wow this is a beating, but I guess what doen't kill us makes us stronger. Good luck! Thanks DanF for all the good info...

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Game 13 - at South Carolina - October 12 at Columbia, SC

This will be a good one to get out of the way while the censor is sleeping...

The Mustangs face their third straight road game against South Carolina. Last season, SMU faced the Gamecocks when they were ranked number 20, and took care of them rather easily 3-1 at Wescott. South Carolina starts this season number 15 in the NSCAA rankings, after posting a 13-7-2 record last season. The Gamecocks made the NCAA tournament, where they had a bye into the second round where they defeated Duke 1-0 in overtime. SC then lost to eventual College Cup participant Michigan in the third round 3-1.

The Gamecocks did lose their leading scorer Blake Brettschneider, who only scored 7 of their 27 goals, but had 10 assists - a high number for a forward. Nobody else on their squad had more than 5 assists on the season. Their second leading scorer, Will Traynor (who is a defenseman), is also gone. He had 6 goals last year, so nearly half of their goals from last season are gone.

Their goalkeeper, Jimmy Maurer, is back though. The Gamecocks only allowed 1.11 goals per match last season.

Their roster kind of shapes up like the SMU squad - 19 of their 29 players are either freshmen or sophomores in eligibility.

The fact this is three straight conference road games certainly shapes up as a negative for the Mustangs, although the Gamecocks will not be tested nearly as well as the Mustangs. Prior to the SMU-SC game, the only good teams the Gamecocks will have faced are Dartmouth and Brown.

South Carolina is one of those teams that always seems to be tough, and they wouldn't be ranked so high without a reason. SMU fans also have an opportunity to scout the Gamecocks since their match against College of Charleston will be televised by Fox Soccer on August 26.

Obviously this will be a challenge for SMU - although on the bright side it is only a one game road trip. Hopefully we can take care of things and then head back to Wescott for the next three games to solidify our hold on the conference title.

Conference play continues for SMU is back at home against Florida International.

[Soccer15]

SC keeper Jimmy Maurer is gone. He was a senior last year and was taken in the MLS supplemental draft in January.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

SC keeper Jimmy Maurer is gone. He was a senior last year and was taken in the MLS supplemental draft in January.

Correct. The link to their 2010 roster was pointing to the 2011 roster, so I was comparing the 2011 roster with the 2009 roster to see who was gone and I forgot to add two seasons when I was looking at Maurer. Oh well.

In that case - if they lost their two top scorers and their keeper it is impressive they are ranked so high. The are always so tough and just looking through the roster they all seem to be six feet tall.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Has everyone received his/her soccer season tickets? I ordered mine just a couple of weeks ago, but I still haven't received them. Isn't there a game on Saturday?

I got mine last Thursday but I had women's seasons tickets too. Probably worth a call if you don't have them by Thursday...