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SMU Mustangs men's soccer

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SMU Mustangs men's soccer
Founded1975; 49 years ago (1975)
UniversitySouthern Methodist University
Head coachKevin Hudson (seventh season)
ConferenceACC
LocationDallas, Texas
StadiumWestcott Field
(Capacity: 2,577)
NicknameMustangs
ColorsRed and blue[1]
   
Home
NCAA Tournament College Cup
2000, 2005
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2010, 2019
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
1979, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances
1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
Conference Tournament championships
1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019
Conference Regular Season championships
1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023

The SMU Mustangs men's soccer team represents Southern Methodist University in men's college soccer. The team currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Mustangs made their most recent appearance in the NCAA National Tournament in 2019, their third consecutive tournament appearance and fourth in five seasons. In 2019 the Mustangs reached their thirteenth Elite Eight before falling to No.1 Seed Virginia 3–2 in overtime. The Mustangs also claimed their third consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament Title defeating Central Florida 1–0 in Orlando. This was the third consecutive year UCF and SMU meet in the AAC Tournament final as the Mustangs claimed their fifth conference title over the last three seasons. In 2017, the Mustangs reached the round of sixteen for the 18th time in program history. In 2017, they also became the first program in American Athletic Conference history to claim both the regular season and conference tournament championship, a feat they repeated in 2018 defeating Temple 2–1 in the final game of the regular season and defeating UCF in a shootout in Orlando in the AAC Tournament Final. The Mustangs have been one of the top men's collegiate sides in the NCAA since being founded in 1975, and are regularly featured in Top 25 polls. The Mustangs used to be coached by former FC Dallas and current Grand Canyon University coach Schellas Hyndman. Current FC Dallas coach Luchi Gonzalez played for the Mustangs from 1998 to 2001.

History

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During the 2006 season, the SMU men's soccer program was ranked No. 1 in the nation for four consecutive weeks. The team sat atop the four national polls with a record of 13-0-2 in the Adidas/NSCA poll, SoccerTimes.com poll, Soccer America Magazine poll, and the CollegeSoccerNews.com poll. Concurrently, the SMU women's soccer program cracked the top 25, at No. 22 in the Adidas/NSCA poll and No. 19 in the SoccerTimes.com poll.

On November 6, 2006, the SMU men's soccer team finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the nation. Additionally, SMU won the C-USA title game, beating Kentucky 2–0 in Tulsa. This C-USA championship win is the sixth conference title for SMU since 1997.

The SMU men's soccer team finished the 2010 season with an overall record of 16-2-2. The Mustangs finished the season strong with a trip to the Elite Eight where they lost to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in a penalty kick shootout.

In 2015, the Mustangs were led by first year head coach Kevin Hudson to the regular season American Athletic Conference title and reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA National Tournament where they were eliminated by Akron 2–1.

The Mustangs finished the 2017 season ranked No. 10 in the Top Drawer Soccer Rankings with an overall record of 17-3-1. They became the first program in American Athletic Conference history to claim the "double", winning both the regular season and conference tournament when they defeated the University of Central Florida 2–1 in Dallas. On January 20, 2018, SMU had two players selected in the 2018 MLS draft with Michael Nelson being selected by the Huston Dynamo with the 20th overall pick and Mauro Cichero being selected by FC Dallas with the 29th overall pick. SMU Defender Jordan Cano signed as a homegrown player for FC Dallas prior to the draft bringing the total to three players entering the MLS from the 2017 team.

In 2018, the Mustangs once again had a first round draft MLS Superdraft Selection as midfielder Emil Cuello was selected 19th overall by the LA Galaxy.

In 2020, the Mustangs had a player taken in the 1st round of the MLS Superdraft for the third consecutive year, as Garrett McLaughlin was selected 8th overall by the Houston Dynamo. Hermann Trophy winner and First-Team All American Eddie Munjoma was also signed to an MLS Homegrown contract by FC Dallas, while defender Phil Ponder was signed to a USL contract by North Texas SC. The Mustangs finished the 2020 campaign ranked at No. 5 in the TopDrawer Soccer Poll, No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, and No. 3 in the NCAA RPI Index.

Stadium

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Built in 1994, Westcott Field is the home venue for the SMU Mustangs men's and women's soccer team. The stadium seats 4,000. In the spring of 2020, SMU announced a $5 Million dollar gift was given by SMU Alums Heather and Ray W. Washburne for the creation of the Washburn Soccer and Track Stadium. The 1,800 seat and 2,500 overall capacity facility will provide the Mustangs with one of the best college soccer stadiums in the country.[2]

Fans

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Rivalries

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While SMU is traditionally rivals with TCU, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Rice, University of Houston and UTEP, these fellow schools do not fund varsity soccer programs, thus hindering the rivalry on the soccer field for the Mustangs. SMU and TCU were rivals when TCU did field a team for many years. TCU's team was an NCAA Division 1 program up until the enforcement of Title IX in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

Due to the enforcement of Title IX, TCU lost their men's division 1 men's soccer program and it was converted to a club team only. TCU does continue to field a women's division 1 program. SMU and TCU played many battles throughout the years for the bragging rights of who was the stronger program in the Dallas/FT Worth metroplex. Generally, they would play one home and one away game against TCU per season. Some of the battles were very close but for the most part SMU was the stronger program due to the fact they had better funding for their soccer program (scholarship money) and thus were able to recruit higher level players. Currently, their main rivals in soccer due to geographic proximity are the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Current roster

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As of 12 Sep 2024[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Germany GER Jordaine Jaeger
2 DF United States USA Brock Pope
3 DF United States USA Owen Zarnick
4 DF United States USA Cesar Ruvalcaba
5 DF Norway NOR Yves Vaage
6 MF Spain ESP Alex Salvo
7 DF Germany GER Kyran Chambron
8 MF Israel ISR Niv Berkovitz
10 FW United States USA Bailey Sparks
11 FW Sweden SWE Fredrik Skilberg
12 DF United States USA Lamar Bynum
13 MF United States USA Richard Garcia
14 DF United States USA Enzo Panozzo
15 DF United States USA Knobel Hunt
16 DF United States USA Mason Grimm
17 MF United States USA Jaylinn Mitchell
18 GK United States USA Martin Dominguez
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW United States USA Milton Lopez
20 MF United States USA Nikola Djordjevic
21 MF Colombia COL Daniel Escorcia
22 MF United States USA Brendan Baird
23 DF United States USA Jeffrey Koch
24 FW United States USA Chris Deamon
25 MF Sweden SWE Hannes Ottoson
26 MF United States USA Ibrahim Keita
27 DF United States USA Ryan Clanton
28 FW United States USA Dominic Bartoni
29 GK United States USA Cameron Victor
30 FW United States USA Stephan Soghomonian
32 FW United States USA Oliver Knotek
33 DF United States USA Charlie Isphording
34 MF United States USA Christian Chandler
36 MF United States USA Noah Ervin
37 GK United States USA Chance Johnson

Coaches

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Current staff

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As of 15 Sep 2024[3]
Position Name
Head Coach United States Kevin Hudson
Assist. Coach United States Michael King
Asssist. Coach United States Ross Fitzpatrick
Assist. Coach, GK United States Jaime Ibarra-Perez

All-time head coaches

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Statistics correct as of the end of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
# Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT RCs TCs
1 Jim Benedek 1975–1983 165 119 31 15 .767 6
2 Schellas Hyndman 1984–2007 504 368 96 40 .770 9 6
3 Tim McClements 2008–2014 130 68 46 16 .585 2 1
4 Kevin Hudson 2015–Present 77 66 22 10 .724

References

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  1. ^ "SMU Licensing". SMUMustangs.com. June 8, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  2. ^ "Facilities: Westcott Field". Southern Methodist University Athletics. CBSSports.com College Network. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Men's soccer rosters on smumustangs.com
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