SMU Men's Soccer Claims ACC Title With 10-Man Louisville Comeback

No. 1 SMU men’s soccer needed a goal, had only 10 players and was running out of time against No. 10 Louisville.

Landon Hickam delivered in the 87th minute, scoring the equalizer in a 1-1 draw that gave the Mustangs the outright ACC regular-season championship Friday night in Dallas.

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SMU had already secured a share of the title. A loss would have left the door open for company at the top; the draw closed it.

The Mustangs finished conference play 6-0-2, collecting 20 points from eight games, and completed the regular season unbeaten at 12-0-3. It’s the program’s first undefeated regular season since 2001.

Louisville didn’t make the final step easy. Cooper Olson headed the Cardinals in front in the 28th minute, and SMU went into halftime trailing 1-0. The Mustangs had matched Louisville’s six first-half shots but had yet to put one on target.

Then came another setback. Tweneboa Kodua received a second yellow card in the 60th minute, leaving SMU a player short for the final half-hour.

The Mustangs kept attacking anyway. They finished with 15 shots to Louisville’s 10 and earned 10 corners to the Cardinals’ three.

The breakthrough came at 86:05. Ryan Clanton-Pimentel and Jaylinn Mitchell were credited with assists as Hickam struck from the top of the box.

The shot got past goalkeeper Nathaniel Abraham, and SMU had the point it needed. It was Hickam’s sixth goal of the season. Clanton-Pimentel recorded his 10th assist; Mitchell picked up her eighth.

Head coach Kevin Hudson has credited the players for the season they’ve built. “It’s really player-driven,” he said in a recent interview.

Friday’s response backed that up: SMU absorbed a deficit, adjusted to playing short-handed and found a goal with minutes left.

The title is SMU’s first ACC regular-season crown, a year after the Mustangs won their first ACC tournament championship.

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Now they’ll try to add another postseason trophy. As the tournament’s No. 1 seed, SMU has a first-round bye and will host Virginia or Notre Dame on Nov. 8.

The unbeaten record is still intact, but the next match will demand a winner.