On Saturday, the Longhorns invited the SMU Mustangs down to Austin for an unofficial rematch of last season’s game. Texas was ready to set right their disappointing overtime loss in Houston against the Mustangs and come away with a satisfying win. However, SMU came onto the field with their own reason for victory. The Mustangs, with two losses in close games to start their season, needed a win over the Horns to stay in as a top contender in the LSA.

With this attitude, the Mustangs began to take control of the game early. Texas was unable to produce on offense as missed shots and poor backups put the ball in SMU’s hands. However, the Mustangs’ offense possessed the ball well and was able to create scoring opportunities. Despite great early saves by Garrett Cox, the Mustangs slid two goals past the senior goalie. Later in the first quarter, Texas was finally able put in a goal, yet it was quickly matched by the Stangs. At a score of 3-1, the Longhorns were desperate for a change of momentum. Fortunately, that opening came as Texas scored four straight goals to go ahead by one before the end of the first half.

The second half of the game began with a stalemate as both teams fought for the important third quarter position. Goals were matched until several penalties enabled the Mustangs to regain the lead. Almost unexpectedly, SMU sat comfortably in a four point lead with four minutes to play in the game. Here, the Horns found themselves replaying the same game from the last year. As before, an unenthusiastic start caused Texas to lose the lead early. Again, they followed with an impressive streak of skill and talent. Now, they sat in the exact same shoes: late in the game, down by four, hoping for a clutch performance to give them a win. However, last year, tying to go into overtime turned out to be not good enough. As emotion and passion set in, Coach Fink challenged his players to dig deeper. “Four goals in four mintutes,” he tested his team. Somehow, Texas began to do just that. Suddenly, the jets kicked on and the offense began to run as a team, willing to move the ball and find a well assisted shot. With under a minute to go, the Horns found themselves in the midst of a tied game. At the completion of their coach’s test, the team decided that it was not enough as had been proven before. With only thirty seconds left, Texas won a much needed face-off and moved in for the final shots of the game. As the first one missed over the cage, it was backed up, and the Horns retained possession. Evans Swann began to drive from behind with less than ten seconds to go. He beautifully passed his man and made a dash for the goal. As he raised his stick for a shot, the ball was checked out onto the crease with a war beginning around it. Then, Alex Kroviak picked up the ball, ran across the front of the goal as the goalie mirrored him, and placed a shot behind his back into the top of the goal. As the team celebrated with an exciting last second goal, they prepared to defend themselves for the final moments. However, the last second goal turned out to be literal; No face-off was taken, and the game had concluded.

Last Saturday’s game marked an important victory for the Horns. Not only could they enjoy the win from the perspective of last year’s team, but also the Horns took pleasure in the passing of their biggest obstacle yet this season. Texas advances to a 3-0 record with their exciting 10-9 finish over the SMU Mustangs.

by William Kenneth Forrest