Pirates Right the Ship vs. the Roos

After a tough defeat on Friday to Colorado College, the Pirates took the field on Sunday looking to right the ship against an improved Austin College side.

On another windy afternoon, the Pirates scored twice against the wind in the first half. At 17:47 of the first half, senior Preston Hollis (Austin, TX) again gave the Pirates the early lead by beating the keeper to the corner for the unassisted goal. Hollis cut across the box and shot the ball, which the Roos keeper could not hang on to it as it slipped through his hands to reach the net. The Kangaroos quickly answered 6 minutes later. One Roo found himself in an offside position as the ball got deflected in right to, he touched it and beat Tasin to the far post to make to 1-1. Even after some discussion between the center referee and the assistant referee, the no offside call stood and the Roos tied the match at one.

The Pirates went back to work and seven minutes later scored off a corner kick. Sophomore Fernando Leon (Dallas, TX) served a driven ball into the near post from the right side and a slashing David Lozano (Austin, TX) connected with his head to ram the ball to the back of the net. This made it 2-1 and it stayed this going into the half.

The Pirates were playing good soccer but needed some encouragement at the half to put a team that was fighting hard but clearly not as good as the Southwestern side. The Pirates made some adjustments to clog their attack that went into a solid first year player, #30 from Austin College. Kevin Jordan stepped into a defensive midfielder role as we went from four backs to three and this helped shut down the Roos attack.

The Pirates came out in a very aggressive minded stance and attacked the Roos net continuously but were unable to put the nail in the coffin until the 71st minute. The Pirates were on the offensive and were down in the opponents box and substitution Juan Carreon (Houston, TX) won the ball off a defender. The two went back and forth fighting for it but Carreon proved stronger as he fought off the defender at the left edge of the box and slipped past him with a great look at the goal. Juan Carreon took tow touches to prepare his shot and laced a ball that went over a diving keeper and dipped under the bar and splashed the upper net. This made the game 3-1 and sealed the deal for the Pirates.

Getting into the scoring action, sophomore Fernando Leon added to his assist, as he took a free kick just to right edge of the 'D' area. Leon added on to the good measure and slammed a ball with his left foot that curled around the wall and past the keeper into the far post upper 90 to make it 4-1 in the 88th minute.

Senior Ryan Tasin (Georgetown, TX) made 8 saves on the day to record the win.

The Pirates were clearly the better team but the Kangaroos fought hard throughout the 90 minutes and never quit. The Pirates out shot the Roos 33-18 and also had the edge in corners 7-1. It was another hard fought SCAC match that saw five cautions, four being for Austin College.

The Pirates move to 3-1 in the SCAC with 9 points and 4-7 overall on the season. The Pirates face another SCAC weekend at home starting on Friday, October 10, as the University of the South is in town, match time is set for 4 PM. Then on Sunday, October 12, they host Oglethorpe University at noon.

Check out the SU press release

http://southwesternpirates.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/100608aaa.html

A THANK YOU........Afterwards the Pirates were treated to Dukes BBQ at the Annual Pirate Tailgate hosted by the Pirate faithful parents. The Pirates and the coaching staff want to express our extreme gratitude for the efforts in coordinating the tailgate. The food was great after a Pirate victory. Thank you to all the parents and those who helped with the festivities!

Tigers Claw to Defeat the Pirates 2-1

Southwestern gets bitten by the Tigers late in the game and Colorado College came out on top defeating the Pirates 2-1. The godfather of Division III soccer and legendary coach of Colorado College, Horst Richardson, expressed his thoughts on the match to Coach Gregory as they shook hands at midfield by saying "We always have one goal games." This certainly sums up the passion from both the Pirates and the Tigers, in yet another epic SCAC battle.

Senior Preston Hollis (pictured above) led the Pirates attack and in the first half going against the wind found the net to make it 1-0 in the 23rd minute. Ben Feiler (Bellaire, TX) won the ball just behind midfield and took a few dribbles out on the right flank. He then played an early through ball to a streaking Hollis where he blew by the defender and found a one-on-one opportunity with the Tigers keeper. Hollis curled the ball to his right around the keeper and hit upper 'V' to make it 1-0 Pirates. Fighting against the wind in the first half was difficult and the Tigers quickly answered with a cross that hung in the air and was misjudged and chested in by a Tiger forward. The Tigers had the advantage with the wind out shooting the Pirates 13-3 in the first half.

The second half the Pirates took advantage of the wind and relentlessly attacked the Tigers net. Sophomore Alex Keller (Houston, TX) got pushed up to front run with Hollis from his midfield position and simpy put the Tigers back line under tremendous pressure. Keller's work rate created many scoring chances and dangerous moments but could not connect. Another wind aided ball late in the game at the 87:43 mark somehow got into the back of the Pirates net and even up to the last second the Pirates were attacking but ended up on the losing end 2-1.

In the second half the Pirates out shot the Tigers 14-7 and for the game SU had the edge in corners 3-1. The Pirates move to 3-7 on the year and 2-1 in the SCAC. The Pirates were stunned but will regroup and take on an improved Austin College side on Sunday at Noon at home.

The Pirates met this morning at 11 am to get the junk out of the legs and get a little sweat going. The mood and spirits were high as they are anticipating getting back on the field tomorrow.

Series notes:

Two seasons ago the Pirates had a heartbreaker versus the Kangaroos. The Pirates were handed a 2-1 defeat in Sherman in 2006 were they easily dominated them but ended up on the wrong end. The Pirates out shot the Roos 28-7 and with a 13-3 edge in corners. Current Pirate Josh Spencer tied the match at 1-1 late in the match at the 77th minute. The game went to the second overtime where the Roos cashed in at the 116th minute to end the game.

In 2007, it was a different story. The Pirates took revenge and thumped them 5-0 with current Pirates Josh Spencer scoring 2 goals, David Lozano having a goal and an assist and Preston Hollis adding in a helper in the SCAC victory. The Pirates will look to right the ship and get back in the winning ways in SCAC play tomorrow. This season Austin College is 3-4-1 overall and 0-2 in the SCAC.

check out the SU press release at

http://southwesternpirates.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/100408aaa.html

Reminder: the Annual Pirate Tailgate will follow the Austin College match tomorrow under the Story Tree.

SCAC Showdown Set for 2 PM

Josh Spencer will lead the Pirates into a tough SCAC match vs. the Colorado College Tigers today at 2 PM. The Tigers are 7-1 on the season and are 1-0 SCAC play with a 5-0 win over Millsaps College last weekend. The Tigers are ranked 4th in the NSCAA/adidas West Regional Rankings. The Pirates enter the second weekend of SCAC play at 2-0 and 3-6 overall.

The last three match ups have been close with SU winning 2 of the last 3 games. Last season, the Pirates took a hard fought 1-0 defeat in the icy weather below Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. The goal came on a penalty kick in the first ten minutes of play and the Pirates faced an up mountain battle for the rest of the day being unable to finish on some good chances in front of net in the second half. The first half the Pirates were out played but the second half the Pirates changed the attitude and just were unable to connect. The Pirate were out shot 23-7 but the corner kicks were more even at 4-3. In 2006, the Pirates got a late goal at the 89th minute from Patrick Dailey to win 2-1. Current Pirate Preston Hollis tied the match at 1-1 on the day where the Pirates out shot the Tigers 13-10 at home. In 2005, the Pirates had another 2-1 win in Colorado Springs with two goals coming from former Pirate Scott Smith.

PIRATE TAILGATE (October 5th)

The Southwestern University Men's Soccer Program will be holding the Annual Pirate Tailgate on October 5th, following the Austin College match that kicks off at Noon.

Go Pirates!

Photo: 2007 tailgate (courtesy Amy O'Neil)

Pirates Reserves 2 - 0 Crusader Reserves

Yesterday, the Pirates Reserves traveled up Interstate 35 to take on the UMHB Crusaders Reserves. The Pirates came home with a 2-0 win. Goals came from Juan Carreon, assisted by Brad Lawrence (Temple, TX) and the other goal came from Ryan Staten (Round Rock, TX). Goalkeeper Matt Elliott (Temple, TX) preserved the shutout for the reserve squad.

The reserves will again be in action this Saturday, October 4 versus the Lonestars White. The kickoff time has been changed to accommodate the SAT Testing schedule and is now slated for 2 PM at home.

The reserves will have a day off and then will be at home on Monday evening, October 6 at 6 PM versus the Georgetown Soccer Association (GSA) 91 team.

Pirates Submerged in Second Half

Southwestern hosted Christopher Newport University (VA) last Friday and lost to the Captains 3-1. The Pirates came out running in the first half and created many scoring chances but a flat second half sunk the pirates.

An early goal gave the Captains a 1-0 lead after the 4th minute but the Pirates played good attacking soccer, having 8 shots in the first half and being awarded 3 corners. The Captains were in a similar boat with 9 shots and 3 corners. After the break, the Pirates just came out a bit flat and paid the price as the Captains stuck two more in the back of the net to put the game out of reach.

The Pirates did fight until the end, where they got a goal from first year forward, Morgan Knobel (College Station, TX). Fernando Leon (Dallas, TX) served a great ball into the box off a corner, where Morgan Knobel skied in the air on the back post to connect on a header that drove the ball past the goalkeeper into the back of the net. In his first collegiate action and minutes of his career, he netted his first collegiate goal. Despite the 3-1 loss it was impressive to see many of the young guys keep competing and fight back to get a goal on the Captains.

The Pirates will be in action on October 3, which starts an important stretch of 4 straight SCAC matches. Friday they play host to the Colorado College Tigers at 2 PM. Then back to the field on Sunday, October 5, at Noon against the Kangaroos of Austin College.

Pirates all Set to Battle the CNU Captains

A non-conference weekend has the Pirates battling the Christopher Newport University (VA) Captains at 5:00 PM tomorrow at home. CNU is in town to get a taste of the top Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) soccer as they also will head to Trinity University for a match on Sunday at 11 AM in San Antonio.

The Pirates had an break from rigors of the season as they had Monday and Tuesday off to catch up on classes and academics. After a great opening SCAC weekend with two victories versus Hendrix and Rhodes, the Pirates got some rest for two days and then had a very hard training session on Wednesday afternoon, where fitness was the theme. A combination of endurance and exhausting sprints saw the grass flying and the ground sounding like a stampede of cattle.

This evening the Pirates were relaxed and in good spirits as the squad played 11 vs. 11 on the game field and sorted out some set piece attacking plays.

Even though it is an off weekend for SCAC play, the atmosphere will be more like a conference game. CNU is a solid squad, with wins over strong teams such as the College of New Jersey and a regionally ranked Roanoke side. They took a 4-1 defeat to nationally ranked #3 York (PA) but the Captains are ranked #7 in the NSCAA South Regional poll. CNU is 6-2-1 on the year and will be a tough test for the Pirates.