DALLAS ? The Kentucky men?s soccer team hopes to rebound from its season-opening loss when it faces No. 17 Tulsa on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in the SMU Mi Cocina Classic.

Friday night, the Wildcats fell victim to tournament host and seventh-ranked SMU, 3-1. The game was tied at the half before the Mustangs broke through for a pair of goals in a four-minute span to seal the victory. Tulsa fought to a scoreless draw earlier on Friday against Stanford.

?Tulsa has a very good team,? said Kentucky coach Ian Collins. ?They have one of the best strikers in the country and they?re just a good solid team. This is a difficult opponent. It?s going to be very hard coming off a tough game with SMU.?

The loss to SMU marked the first time the Wildcats gave up three goals in a game since the 2002 season. It was also the first two-goal defeat for Kentucky since then as well.

?It was a tough game,? Collins said. ?We caught SMU when they were razor sharp. They were at the top of their game and we were below the best of our game. That combination of factors led to the result.?

Despite the loss, Kentucky should be fresh entering Sunday?s action having played 18 players. The extra rest should benefit the Wildcats as the heat and humidity of Dallas took its toll on the team Friday night.

?The weather will play a huge factor. We were tired (Friday) night,? Collins said. ?The humidity down here is something we?re not used to. We?ll have to go deep into our bench. But I was happy with the way our guys played off the bench against SMU.?

Kentucky needs a win to avoid the team?s first 0-2 start since the 1998 season. The two teams have never met.