Knobel Nets Two Game Winners

The Pirates were able to continue their strong SCAC play over the weekend by defeating the University of the South (2-1) and Oglethorpe University (4-1) due to first year forward, Morgan Knobel (College Station, TX) netting two game winning goals, which also ups his goals to three for his rookie season, along with sophomore Fernando Leon (Dallas, TX) dishng out two more assists in the victory versus the Tigers.

Another windy weekend on the pitch played part in effecting the match, but the Pirates were able to put obstacles aside and gain six more points in the SCAC standing to remain in second behind NSCAA nationally ranked #1 Trinity University.

On Friday, the Pirates dominated play in the first half with 15 shots but were only able to connect once off a corner kick. Fernando Leon served in a bullet to the near post where senior Josh Spencer was able to fight through traffic and get a head on it as it was redirected into the near post past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0. That stood all the way into the half time rest.

The second half the Tigers took advantage of the gusty winds into the North and were able to put a little pressure on the Pirates defense. The Tigers won a throw in early the second half. The ball somehow got through several white shirts and Ryan Tasin could not fight the melee and the ball ended up on a Tigers foot, where he was able to just lob it up and over Kevin Jordan who was giving a last ditch effort to keep the ball out.

Morgan Knobel came on late in the half and proved to be the super sub. Another set piece by the Pirates and by Fernando Leon secured the win. Morgan Knobel went up in the air along with Colin McCulloch (Sugar Land, TX) and Dan Butterworth (Katy, TX) with only one Tiger trying to defend and head it out. The smaller of the four somehow got his head on it and it found the net to be the game winner. This put Leon assists to four on the season for the Pirates.

Sunday was another tough SCAC match that saw some interesting decision making on part of the officiating crew. Despite some calls that went against the home team, the Pirates persevered and did not make the contorversial calls an issue and thumped Oglethorpe 4-1.

From the whistle, the Pirates were all over the Stormy Petrels but again just struggled to get the one goal that would open the flood gates. It took 31 minutes and substitutions of Morgan Knobel and Juan Carreon (Houston, TX) got the party started. Knobel won a hard tackle in the midfield that energized the play and jumpstarted the attack. Ben Feiler (Houston, TX) got down the field and served a ball in to Carreon who quickly cleaned it up on the penalty spot and snapped off a quick left footer to the bottom left corner. Knobel received a great through ball from Juan Carreon on the right edge of the "D" about 22 out, he took a touch towards goal and rifled a worm burner to the back left post for the eventual game winner. Minutes later, Tom Holleman (Houston, TX) then made a great decision as he received a ball in the box and sent a low driven ball across the box to a wide open Josh Spencer who tapped it in to make it 3-0.

The second half saw a little more fight from Oglethorpe with the wind at their backs but the day was about the Pirates even after a penalty kick conversion allowed the Petrels to draw blood. With many calls going against the Pirates, Josh Spencer was awarded a straight red card in 50-50 battle with the goalkeeper and was dismissed from the match. A man down the Pirates were able to seal the deal, as a counter attack shifted the play quickly to the Oglethorpe box. First year Tony Holzbach (Colleyville, TX), took a quick shot that deflected into the net past an on rushing keeper. This made it 4-1 and gave the Pirates another victory.

This pushes the Pirates to 6-7 overall and 5-1 in the tight race for SCAC supremacy.

SCAC Standings:

Trinity 6-0 (18 pts)
Southwestern 5-1 (15 pts)
DePauw 4-0-1 (13 pts)
Centre 4-1 (12 pts)
Rhodes 3-4 (9 pts)
Colorado College 2-1 (6 pts)
Millsaps 2-2 (6 pts)
Sewanee 1-5-1 (4 pts)
Hendrix 1-6 (3 pts)
Oglethorpe 0-5-2 (2 pts)
Birmingham 0-0-0 (0 pts)
Austin 0-3 (0 pts)

The Pirates are off from SCAC play this weekend and will play a former Division III National Champion, St. Lawrence University, winning the title in 1999. This season the Saints are 8-5 overall and 3-2 in their Liberty League play. St. Lawrence is one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division III soccer. The Saints have won 9 Liberty League Conference titles and made 9 straight NCAA tournament appearances from 1998-2006.

Another great opportunity for the Pirates to play some of the best competition in the country. The match is slated for Saturday, October 18 at Noon at Trinity University (San Antonio, TX).

check out the SU press release

http://southwesternpirates.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/101408aaa.html

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).

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.