SMU’s first defeat of the season came against Memphis at home on Friday, losing 3-4 in overtime. The Tigers scored the first goal at the very end of the first half by midfielder Gurman Sangha with the assist by forwarding Peter Chang. In the second half of the match, the Mustangs managed to have a 2-1 lead, due to midfielder Gabriel Costa scoring in the 53rd minute and defender Eddie Munjoma in the 64th minute, however, Memphis defender Jackson Morse was able to score the equalizer in the 80th minute. The Tigers scored again towards the end of the 85th minute by Chang, though SMU were quick to equalize the match in the 86th minute by Munjoma, securing his brace for the match. The game went into overtime; however, Tigers defender Artur De Luca was quick to score the golden goal in the 91st minute.
On Tuesday, the Mustangs played its last non-conference fixture against Stetson at home, resulting in a 5-0 victory. The Mustangs were quick to score their goals early on in the match due to Mira. Costa scoring a penalty in the second minute of the match, followed by Eddie Munjoma scoring in the 10th minute. Additionally, midfielder Knut Ahlander scored in the 19th minute along with defender Brandon Terwege just 10 minutes after. To further secure its victory, Munjoma scored the last goal of the match in the 51st minute to secure his brace. The Mustangs are currently third in the AAC standings and will play its next conference match against Cincinnati away on Saturday.
Following its victory against SMU, Memphis lost 4-1 in its last non-conference fixture against Central Arkansas at home. Bears forward Niklas Broadacki scored a hat trick in the first half, due to an early penalty in the first minute and putting the ball in the back of the net in the 11th and 44th minute of the match. Central Arkansas managed to score once more in the 57th minute by defender Alberto Suarez to secure its win. Despite there being little time left, the Tigers did not leave the pitch without a goal, as Artur De Luca scored in the 76th minute. Memphis is currently No. 2 in the conference standings and are set to play Tulsa at home on Saturday.
UCF managed to get on the top of the table following its 2-1 victory against UConn in overtime on Sunday. The first goal of the match didn’t come until the very end of the first half when forward Cal Jennings, with two seconds left on the clock, scored his 11th goal in 12 games. Similarly, in the second half, the Huskies found themselves scoring the equalizer in the 80th minute, Jake Dengler heading the ball into the back of the net with defender Ziyad Fekri crossing the ball from a corner kick. The match went into overtime; however, the Knights didn’t waste any time with a good in the 92nd minute by forward Gino Vivi, his fourth in 12 games. UCF will play their final non-conference match against Stetson at home on Tuesday.
On Saturday, Cincinnati played its fourth conference match against Tulsa, resulting in a 1-0 away victory. The Bearcats scored the only goal of the match in the 67th minute, when forward substitute Rex Epps put the ball in the back of the net from 25 yards out. Following its victory, Cincinnati fell 1-0 to Iupui on Tuesday in its last non-conference match when Jaguars midfielder Cameron Petersen scored in the 50th minute. The Bearcats are currently No. 6 in the conference standings and will play their next conference match against SMU at home on Saturday.
David Sandoval is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at david.sandoval@uconn.edu. He tweets @sandovalduconn.