Sept. 5, 2014

 

Final Box Score

DALLAS (SMU) - The Mustang men's soccer team posted a 3-1 victory over Duke in its 2014 home opener on Friday night at Westcott Field in front of an enthusiastic SMU crowd.

"We have a great young group and I felt like we competed against Michigan and Michigan State, but there were some things we needed to work on," Head Coach Tim McClements said. "We got back at it in practice this week and took a look at Duke, and they're a great team, and they're the kind of team we like to play."

Sophomore Stanton Garcia got the scoring started for the Mustangs in the 35th minute off a through ball into the 18-yard box from junior John Lujano. Garcia collected the pass and slipped the ball into the lower right hand corner beyond the outstretched arms of Duke goalkeeper Joe Ohaus for his first collegiate tally.

It looked like the Mustangs would take the 1-0 lead into the locker room until freshman Colten Habecker found a loose ball in the box in the 44th minute following a Jared Rice corner kick for his first career goal and a 2-0 lead at the break. The match winner also gave Rice his first career assist.

Shortly after the break, redshirt-freshman Abdul Yassine gained possession in the Duke 18-yard box and was fouled after attempts to elude his defender. The Blue Devils were whistled for the infraction and senior Andrew Morales stepped up to the penalty spot and converted on the kick to give the Mustangs the 3-0 lead in the 54th minute.

Duke was able to spoil the shutout with an 80th-minute strike from Nick Palodichuk that found its way into the net from nearly 40 yards out.

The Mustangs (1-2) outshot Duke (1-1-1), who is receiving votes in the latest edition of the 2014 NSCAA Division I poll, 15-9 in the contest, including 7-3 in shots on goal. Redshirt-freshman Michael Nelson, who was named to the American Athletic Conference's weekly honor roll this past week, had a pair of saves in goal for SMU.

"We're improving day-by-day and that's our first goal of the season. Just making sure that we're getting better every training session and every game," McClements said. "We came out and gave it our best with a young group and had couple injuries this week and had to move some players around and we're really proud of the way the guys responded."

The Mustangs are back in action on Friday, Sept. 12 for the first day of the SMU Classic. Following a 5 p.m. CT kickoff between Memphis and Stony Brook, SMU will play Missouri State at 7:30. The Ponies' second match of the tournament is set for 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14 when they host Stony Brook. Live stats and video will be available at SMUMustangs.com.