SMU MEN’S SOCCER 30 NCAA TOURNAMENTS • 18 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS • 40 ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS THIS WEEK... Schedule No. 25 SMU (8-2, 2-1) hosts Northeastern (2-8-2, 1-3-1 Colonial) for a non-conference match Tuesday at 7 p.m. Live stats will OVERALL: 8-2-0 (HOME: 5-0-0; AWAY 2-2-0; NEUTRAL 0-0-0) be available on SMUMustangs.com. AMERICAN: 2-1-0 (HOME: 1-0-0; AWAY 1-1-0) SMU picked up its second road win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Temple last week. The Mustangs sit in third place in the Date Opponent Time/Results American Athletic Conference standings with six points, while USF (6-3-1, 3-0) and Connecticut (6-3-2, 3-0) are tied for first Aug. 25 UC Davis W, 3-2 with nine points. SMU is off to its best start through 10 matches since 2010, when the Mustangs began the season 9-1. Sept. 1 Oakland^ W, 2-1 CICHERO AND RICE NAMED TO THE AMERICAN WEEKLY HONOR ROLL (Oct. 9, 2017) Sept. 3 Cornell^ W, 3-0 Mauro Cichero and Jared Rice were named to the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll, the conference announced Monday. Cichero picks up his second weekly honor after heading in the game-winner in a 2-1 victory last weekend at Temple. Sept. 7 at No. 1 Stanford L, 1-3 The MAC Hermann Trophy candidate was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week after recording his Sept. 9 at Santa Clara W, 1-0 first career hat trick against UC Davis (Aug. 25) in the season opener. Cichero tallied his sixth goal of the season against the Owls off a cross from the left wing from Emil Cuello. The Norman, Oklahoma, native now has 21 career goals, including Sept. 15 [RV] Loyola University Maryland W, 4-0 nine game-winners. He is tied for the conference lead in points (16) and is tied for second goals (6). Rice earned his second Sept. 17 Brown W, 1-0 consecutive weekly honor after being named The American Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 2. He recorded his first goal of the season at Temple after drilling a shot from 30-yards out to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. He is tied for the team lead in Sept. 24 at Tulsa* L, 0-1 (OT) assists (4) and is third in points (6). Sept. 29 UCF* W, 2-1 SMU SOCCER PROGRAMS EARN 2016-17 TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD (Oct. 5, 2017) Oct. 7 at Temple* W, 2-1 Both SMU soccer programs earned the United Soccer Coaches’ (formerly the NSCAA) Team Academic Award. The teams Oct. 10 Northeastern 7:00 PM were recognized for their exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2016-17 academic year. SMU was one of 202 collegiate programs to have both their men and women’s teams earn the award. The SMU women’s team, which posted a 3.50 Oct. 14 Memphis* 7:00 PM team grade-point average for the 2016-17 academic year, has earned the honor for the sixth consecutive season. The SMU Oct. 17 Oral Roberts 7:00 PM men’s soccer team earned the academic award for its second consecutive season following a 3.40 GPA. A total of 824 soccer teams (286 men, 538 women) earned the honor. To qualify for the award, the team must have a minimum grade-point aver- Oct. 21 at Cincinnati* TBD age of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player’s GPA, then dividing by Oct. 29 at South Florida* 12:00 PM the number of players. Nov. 4 at Connecticut* TBD LAST TIME OUT – No. 25 SMU Defeats Temple, 2-1 (Oct. 7, 2017) American Athletic Conference Championship Mauro Cichero header in the 80th minute proved to be the game-winner as the No. 25 SMU men’s soccer team defeated Temple, 2-1, at the Temple Sports Complex. The MAC Hermann Trophy candidate registered his sixth goal of the season off a Nov 10 Semifinals TBD cross from the left wing from Emil Cuello, who was credited with the assist. Cichero now has 21 career goals, including nine Nov 12 Championship TBD game-winners. The Norman, Oklahoma, native is tied with teammate Garrett McLaughlin for the team lead in goals. Home matches in bold at Westcott Field; *Conference match; ABOUT SMU (AMERICAN) ^SMU Tournament; All times CT SMU (8-2, 2-1) is led by head coach Kevin Hudson, who returned 21 letterwinners, including eight starters from last season. SMU is second in the American Athletic Conference in points (5.80), goals (1.90) and assists per game (2.00). Mauro Cichero and Garrett McLaughlin lead the Mustangs with six goals each, which is tied for second in The American. The Mustangs were selected to finish fifth in the preseason poll of The American, a league that sent two teams (Tulsa, USF) to the 2016 NCAA Tournament. SMU is the only team in The American with eight wins and is the only team in the conference ranked in the United Follow the Mustangs Coaches’ Poll. The Mustangs won their season opener against UC Davis (3-2), followed by two wins against Oakland (2-1) • WEBSITE: SMUMustangs.com and Cornell (3-0) to claim the SMU Tournament title. On the first road trip of the season, the Mustangs went 1-1 in California • FACEBOOK: /SMUSoccerM with a 3-1 loss to then-No. 1 Stanford, before a 1-0 victory against Santa Clara. SMU won its last three matches at home with • TWITTER: @SMUSoccer - #PonyUp victories against Loyola (Md.), Brown and UCF. The Mustangs remain undefeated on the Hilltop with a 6-0 record at home. • INSTAGRAM: @SMU.Mustangs - @SMU_msoc SMU went 6-9-1 overall and 2-4-1 in conference play in 2016. • YOUTUBE: /SMUMustangsAthletics • TAGBOARD: /PonyUp ABOUT NORTHEASTERN (COLONIAL) Northeastern is 2-8-2 overall and 1-3-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Huskies are led by head coach Chris Gbandi, the 2000 MAC Hermann Trophy winner. He is in his second season at the helm after stints as an assistant at Dartmouth and Holy Cross. Gbandi got is first signature win this season when the Huskies knocked off then-No. 12 UMass Lowell, 2-1, on Sept. 9. Harry Swartz leads the team in goals (3), shots on goal (11) and shots (30). Ackim Mpofu garnered preseason All-CAA honorable mention accolades after leading the Huskies in goals a season ago with five. Northeastern was picked to finish eighth in the CAA Preseason Poll. SMU-NORTHEASTERN SERIES HISTORY SMU and Northeastern will meet for the first time Tuesday. UP NEXT SMU continues its homestand Saturday with conference play against Memphis at 7 p.m. Men’s Soccer Contact: William B. Jones • Office: (214) 768-4849 • E-mail: [email protected] Public Relations Office • SMU • Loyd All-Sports Center • 5800 Ownby Dr • Suite 305 • Dallas, Texas 75205 QUICK FACTS GENERAL INFORMATION Former SMU standout Kevin Hudson was named the fourth head coach in the program’s history on Jan. 9, 2015. Hudson spent seven Location _________________________________________________________ Dallas, Texas seasons as an assistant coach and was promoted to associate head Founded __________________________________________________________________1911 coach prior to the 2014 season after returning to the Hilltop in 2007. President _____________________________________________________ R. Gerald Turner Director of Athletics __________________________________________________ Rick Hart During Hudson’s nine years on the Hilltop, the Mustangs have reached the NCAA Tournament on five occasions, advancing as far as the Faculty Athletic Representative ____________________________________C. Paul Rogers Elite Eight in 2010. In 2010 and 2012, SMU earned the Conference Enrollment ______________________________________________________________11,739 USA regular season title, and in 2011 the squad won the tournament Conference_________________________________________American Athletic Conference championship. School Nickname _____________________________________________________ Mustangs In his first year as head coach, Hudson’s team claimed the 2015 Mascot _______________________________________________ Peruna (a Shetland Pony) American Athletic Conference regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Hudson Colors ________________________________________ Red (PMS 186) and Blue (PMS 286) and his coaching staff were named the 2015 AAC Coaching Staff of the Year. The Mustangs have amassed a 103-63-23 (.606) record during Hudson’s tenure including a 21-12-5 (.618) record as head coach. MUSTANG COACHING STAFF Head Coach _____________________________________________ Kevin Hudson (SMU ‘04) On the field, Hudson has helped mentor a pair of NSCAA All-America Second-Team selections, as Assistant Coaches ________________________________________________Dustin Norman well as 14 All-Region honorees. At the conference level, three student-athletes have been selected as Player of the Year and 31 have been recognized as all-conference competitors. _______________________________________________________ Brett Koziczkowski Athletic Trainer ____________________________________________________ Becky Rolke In two seasons as head coach, Hudson has coached a 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist and Soccer Office Phone ______________________________________________(214) 768-2158 NSCAA All-American First Team member, the 2015 AAC Offensive Player of the Year, 2015 AAC Midfielder of the Year, 2015 AAC Goalkeeper of the Year and the 2016 AAC Rookie of the Year. Soccer Office Fax _______________________________________________ (214) 768-2405 In the classroom, there has been an NSCAA Scholar-Athlete All-America selection, three CoSIDA SMU MEDIA INFORMATION Academic All-America honorees, ten CoSIDA All-District selections, 13 C-USA Academic Medal recipients, and seven all-conference academic team award winners. The Mustangs were also Men’s Soccer Contact ___________________________________________ William B. Jones awarded the 2014-15 and 2015-16 AAC Team Academic Excellence Award for the highest team GPA Soccer Contact’s Office Phone ____________________________________ (214) 768-4849 in the conference.