After splitting their two games of the SMU Invitational, two things are certain: SMU is now 2-3-0 in 2014, and the Mustangs have a bit-time weapon in junior Idrissa Camara.
While SMU was held scoreless in a 1-0 loss to Missouri State to open the tournament Friday, Camara provided the bulk of the Mustangs’ points in a 3-1 win over Stony Brook on the final night of the SMU Invite.
“I thought that for parts of the [Missouri State] game we did well and fought hard,” Head Coach Tim McClements said. “Missouri State did a good job of disrupting play, but I think the bottom line is we didn’t generate enough quality chances on goal.
Camara scored his first two goals as a Mustang and earned recognition from the American Athletic Conference by being named to the weekly honor roll.
During SMU’s win, Camara found the back of the net in just the second minute.
Freshman teammate Abdul Yassine’s shot was saved by SBU keeper Tom McMahon, but Camara fired the rebound to put SMU up 1-0.
SMU rode it’s 1-0 lead into the second half but after the break Camara struck again for the game winner.
The Mustangs piled it on with another goal in the 65th minute, courtesy of Stanton Garcia.
Jared Rice set up the goal with a well placed corner to set up Garcia’s header
“We were able to generate more entries into the box tonight and guys were hungry to get on the end of it, and when you do that you develop opportunities to score and fortunately we put a few in the back of the net,” McClements said.
Redshirt-freshman Michael Nelson made four saves in the second half against SBU and finished the weekend with six.
“Our defensive approach is the same every game. We try to limit them to as few shots as possible, as few entries as possible and the guys did a great job with that,” McClements added. “They’re the start of our attack as well and I’m really proud of the way the defenders played, and the way Michael played in goal.”
Camara and company will host Oral Roberts on Friday 5 p.m. CT at Westcott field. Follow live stats and video at SMUMustangs.com. For tickets visit SMUMustangs.com/Tickets or call 214-768-4263.
