Big Weekend for Men's Soccer

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

The team is in North Carolina - even with a cool picture from the airport to prove it!

Duke will obviously be tough Sunday, but we really need to beat NC State Friday afternoon and get back on track for this season.

Go Ponies!

[redpony]

After a questionable start this weekend should show us what we really have. Hopefully our loss to a lower ranked team was just an anomoly.

GO PONIES!!!

[EastStang]

William and Mary is a good team and they got some breaks. From those that watched the game we controlled the play. If we keep on doing that we'll win our share of games.

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU M-Soccer: No. 17 SMU Falls 1-0 To N.C. State In Overtime
Mustangs face Duke Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Sept. 2, 2011

DURHAM, N.C. (SMU) - The No. 17 SMU men's soccer team fell to N.C. State 1-0 in overtime Friday night at Koskinen Stadium. The Mustangs are now 0-2 on the season.

"Sometimes soccer is a very cruel game," head coach Tim McClements said. "If we play the way we did tonight, we're going to be okay. Barnes had a very good game; he did a great job in the midfield. Aaron Simmons was great in the back. Top to bottom, we played very well. We did everything we needed to do, but it just didn't go our way."

N.C. State scored off of a corner kick when Ollie Kelly set up at the flag and curved the ball directly into the goal in the 99th minute.

The Mustangs dominated the stats sheet, outshooting the Wolfpack 20-9 and had an 8-4 advantage in shots on goal. Juan Castillo led all players with four shots. Zach Barnes fired of three shots, two of which on frame. Redshirt freshman Damian Rosales and freshman Aaron Simmons each put two shots on target as well.

Sophomore keeper Jaime Ibarra started his first game in goal for the Mustangs, recording three saves.

"Jaime was really steady and made several key saves during the game," said McClements. "He did just what we expected of him. He did a great job."

"This was a tough loss, but we have to get up and move on," McClements said. "We have another game on Sunday against a great team in Duke, and we need to be ready for that."

SMU faces tournament host Duke on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Mustangs hold a 2-2-1 all-time record against the Blue Devils. The teams last squared off Sept. 7, 1996, at the Indiana Classic with then-No. 2 Duke defeating SMU 2-0.

[PonyPride]

Relax — this is the risk associated with a non-conference schedule loaded with NCAA Tournament teams and teams like NC State, which plays in the brutal ACC. Sunday's game could go either way, too — those are two good teams — and upcoming opponents like UCLA and UConn are no easy task, either. SMU is replacing some exceptional 2010 seniors (Cruz, Hill, Osorio, Soto) and replacing them with young players who are extremely talented but learning the college game. This team has experienced a couple of bumps out of the gate, but it's way too early to panic.

[PonyPride]

That's true, they could be 0-3. But a loss to Duke won't kill this season, just like a win over Duke won't make the season (although it would help.) Six of the 11 starters yesterday were freshmen and sophomores, as were five of the seven substitutes. It would be different if the schedule started out with a bunch of pushover opponents, but this is a very young team, and they're kicking a lot of these freshmen in the deep end and telling them to swim with this schedule. Yes, many of these sophomores are veterans, in that they played a lot last year. But it sounds like SMU had the upper hand for most of the game. SMU outshot NC State 20-9 and had a 6-3 advantage on corner kicks, a statistic that often is a pretty good indicator of how much time is spent in front of each goal. Without having seen the goal from last night, it sounds like two very good teams played a very good game, and one NC State guy scored an exceptional goal when he bent a corner kick straight in. Sure, you hope your keeper gets that — and typically, they get every one — but players who can do that are pretty rare. Tip your hat to him and go get ready for Duke,

[redpony]

0-2, OR 0-3 sure as hell won't get you in the top 10 or possibly even the top 25.

GO PONIES!!!