Pirates Look to Keep Streak Going vs. Sewanee

Senior Kevin Jordan (Austin, TX) will look to shut down another SCAC opponent on Friday vs. the Sewanee Tigers (the University of the South) at 4:00 PM at home. Last Sunday, Jordan led the Pirates on defense to find their 3rd victory in SCAC play in a 4-1 win versus Austin College. With the win, the Pirates currently sit in a tie for second place with 9 points (3-1) in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference standings.

The Pirates are continuing to find their pace and rhythm as a team. Even in a tough loss to Colorado College in the waning seconds of the match, the Pirates gained more confidence. The team has seen what they are capable of by scoring against the wind and out playing the CC Tigers in the second half. Then an improved Austin College side fought for 90 minutes and demonstrated to the Pirates once again the importance in finishing their chances and finishing off a team early.

The focus of training this week has been in front of goal on Tuesday, with a Wednesday session of polishing up on how Sewanee will attack the Pirates and then again looking for that killer punch by finishing any knock downs and second chances on goal. The Pirates are ready for a high intensity match that will see the Sewanee Tigers trying to high pressure for portions of the 90 minutes.

Series notes:

In the previous five meetings with the University of the South, the Pirates are 5-0 against the Tigers, out scoring the Tigers 13-3. Senior Kevin Jordan has come up big in his tenure, with his lone career goal and 1 of his 2 career assists coming versus the University of the South.

In 2005, Jordan scored the game winner in the 69th minute to secure a 1-0 SCAC win on the road. Last year, Jordan again played his hand in dishing out the game winning assist in a tough contested 2-1 victory again on the Tigers field, where he fed Daniel Webb with 5 minutes left to snatch the victory.

The most lopsided victory came in 2005, where the Pirates beat the Tigers 5-0 again on the mountain at Sewanee. The Pirates got a goal a piece from current seniors David Lozano (Austin, TX) and Preston Hollis (Austin, TX). Other than the 5-0 drubbing in 2005, the Pirates and the Tigers have seen three matches decided by a one goal margin. It should be another close contested battle this Friday in Georgetown. The Pirates will try and continue the winning streak against the Tigers and add another SCAC win to the 2008 resume.

Senior goalkeeper, Ryan Tasin (Georgetown, TX) has made two starts against the Tigers and recorded a total of 5 saves with his 2-0 record. Tasin recorded the shutout in the 5-0 victory in 2006 and only gave up one goal in 2007 in the 2-1 win.

Scoring leaders for the Pirates (after 11 matches)...

#21 David Lozano (5 G - 10 points)
#9 Josh Spencer (4 G 1 A - 9 points)
#6 Nathan Shaw-Meadow (2 G 4 A - 8 points)
#12 Preston Hollis (3 G 1 A - 7 points)
#11 Alex Keller (1 G 3 A - 5 points)
#8 Fernando Leon (1 G 2 A - 4 points)
#15 Tim Hord (1 G - 2 points)
#10 Juan Carreon (1 G - 2 points)
#30 Morgan Knobel (1 G - 2 points)


How the Pirates rank in the SCAC:

Forward David Lozano ranks sixth in the SCAC in scoring with 5 goals.

Junior midfielder Nathan Shaw-Meadow ranks fourth in the SCAC in assists, with 4 helpers on the season, as well as sophomore Alex Keller ranks tied for 8th in assists in the SCAC with 3 on the year.

Goalkeeper Ryan Tasin is second in the SCAC in saves with 58 and third in the SCAC with 5.27 saves per game, as well as ranking tied for third in shutouts (2).