Secret Revealed as Pirates Get First Win of 2008

As Hurricane Ike was making landfall, the Pirates headed north to St. Louis to take part in the Washington/Fontbonne University Classic in a four team tournament that included Denison University from Granville, OH.

The Pirates flew to St. Louis on Thursday afternoon where they arrived at the Sheraton in Clayton, MO to catch some rest after a day of travel. Early the next morning, the Pirates had a quick run through on Washington University's field to get a feel for the turf and had a chance to relax as they toured Wash. U.'s campus and ate lunch.


That evening the Pirates took on a tough opponent that reached the NCAA Tournament Elite 8 the previous season. Again in the new system of play, the Pirates looked dangerous early and often but n a defensive miscue the Bears scored on a header which had the Pirates going into the half at a one goal deficit. Early in the second half the Pirates again were pouring it on through systematic possession of moving up the field, yet could just not generate anything on net. Again, two more lapses defensively and the Pirates were down 3-0. The score stayed the same throughout the remainder of the match. The 3-0 scoreline was not evident of how the Pirates played but again answered some questions on the field of how we need to come together and put both parts of the puzzle together.

On Saturday, the Pirates took in some sight seeing as the headed down town to check out downtown and the 'Arch'. Even thought he mood was fun , you could tell that there was some business to take care of as they were focused in looking for redemption and the first win of the season.

Feeling good and knowing that the team is coming together the Pirates again were extremely successful in going on the offensive. Seniors Preston Hollis and David Lozano were lethal at running at the defenders and looking like their old form, along with senior Josh Spencer and sophomores Tim Hord and Alex Keller. The Pirates were able to keep the ball the majority of the match and fend off all counterattacks the Griifins launched. Even though the Pirates struggled to find the net. In the first half, Alex Keller had a shot deflected that bounced right in front of Josh Spencer who tried to hammer it home yet smashed into the crossbar to keep it scoreless. Having many chances throughout the match, it stayed a 0-0 stalemate. Another great chance came with 10 seconds remaining in the second half. Alex Keller revealed his secret weapon of a long throw in and as it entered the box it got bunked around where the keeper was able to just get a hand on Preston Hollis' touch to just run out the clock to forge overtime.

In overtime, it was evident that the Pirates were not going to let up. With less than five minutes in the first session of OT, the Pirates won another throw in the attacking third where Alex Keller launched a throw in the box that was about two yards inside the near post. Fontbonne's goalkeeper rushed onto and misjudged the ball, the ball slipped through his outstretched hands to an on-rushing David Lozano who tapped it in for the win. This was Lozano's first goal of the 2008 season.

The Pirates are now 1-5 on the season but the chemistry is continually building and the spirits are high. The Pirates will have a quick week of training before they head into the first contests of SCAC play against Hendirx College and Rhodes College on September 19 and 21.