It would be the fourth game in seven days for the Pirates when they took on the Hendrix College Warriors at Varsity Field. Understandably, the Pirates looked tired, and it was as if the team was moving in slow motion. This played into the Warriors' hand significantly, whose players are talented but lack the depth to play at a very high pace. Thus their game plan was to slow the ball down on offense to negate the Pirates' run-and-gun style of play.

The Warriors executed their game plan to a T, using a deliberate pace of play offensively. The Warriors could dictate what they wanted to do because of a sluggish Pirate defense, which showed no interest in going out and pressuring the Warriors. With three minutes left in the first quarter, Hendrix held a 3-1 advantage. The Pirates scored three more goals in the last few minutes, including an energetic goal from Fr. faceoff man Anthony Caudillo. A goal from Cade McDonald, assisted by midfielder Justin Macha, would tie the game at 4-4. And by the end of the first half, the Pirates had taken the lead for a halftime score of 7-6.

Regardless of the Pirates' lead going into halftime, the Pirates' offense was stagnant the entire afternoon. They took bad shots off of half-hearted dodges that allowed the Warriors goaltender easy saves and fast-break opportunities. Southwestern took 45 shots and went 1-3 on the man-up; additionally, they only cleared at 70 percent while the Warriors cleared very efficiently.

Both goaltenders had impressive afternoons, Nate Blair of the Pirates and Ian Domeika of the Warriors each kept their teams in the game all afternoon. Domeika was all over the Pirates' shots, while Blair had to stand on his head to keep the Pirates close. Both goalies had 17 saves in the contest, albeit with different defenses in front of them.

Even though Southwestern went 23-26 at the faceoffs, the Pirates hardly were able to convert on their possessions, scoring an uncharacteristic three goals in the second half. Although the Pirates only trailed 10-9 in the final eight minutes of the game, a Warrior goal at the six-minute mark to increase the lead to 11-9, the two-goal deficit would have felt like 6 or 7, and the Warrior momentum carried them all the way to end of the game.

The Pirates have a whole week to recover from their four-game stint. Their next game will be a home match-up against the Kalamazoo Hornets Saturday, March 26th at 10:00 AM.