CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
DALLAS, TEXAS – Top seeded SMU came out on top over No. 4 Temple, 4-0, Friday evening in the American Men’s Soccer Championship semifinals at Westcott Field. The host Mustangs advance to face second-seeded UCF in the championship finale on Sunday.
Four different players scored for SMU, who improved to 14-2-1 with the victory. The Mustangs scored their first two goals within the first five minutes of the game. Emil Cuello’s unassisted goal gave SMU a 1-0 lead in the second minute, and Jordan Cano increased the Mustang lead to 2-0 on a header in the fourth minute. It was the first goal of the season for both players.
SMU held a two goal advantage for the majority of the game until Nicky Hernandez scored at the 58:54 mark, pushing the lead to 3-0. DJ Williams, Jr., found the back of the net with five minutes left in regulation to give the Mustangs a 4-0 advantage.
SMU led 11-9 in shots while the Owls held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks. Goalkeeper Michael Sammik made three saves for Temple, while SMU’s Michael Nelson stopped four shots in the net and shared the shutout with teammate Patrick Hillyard.
Joonas Jokinen had three shots for the Owls, who fell to 9-8-1 with the loss. Clark logged a team-high and game-high tying three shot attempts for the Mustangs.
Sunday’s championship match will begin at 1 p.m. CT, and can been seen live on ESPNU.
For more information on the American Men’s Soccer Championship, please visit
www.theamerican.org/msoccer.