Southwestern University’s men’s soccer team hit the ground running in their season opener at Texas Lutheran University. The Pirates scored three times in the first half and never looked back as they defeated the Bulldogs 4-0.

Just ten minutes into the game Southwestern found themselves in the lead as junior Alex Keller (pictured right) found senior Nathan Shaw-Meadow who put it in the back of the net to put the Pirates up 1-0. Fifteen minutes later Southwestern went up 2-0 on senior Josh Spencer’s unassisted goal and just before the end of the half the Pirates put one more in goal as junior Fernando Leon assisted on senior David Lozano’s goal.

The second half was quieter for most of the time until Keller once again found an open teammate and senior Checo Carreon gave the Pirates their final goal of the game for the 4-0 win.

Sophomore goal keeper Nick Pierce looked sharp in his first collegiate start playing all 90 minutes and recording the shut out while tallying five saves on the afternoon.

The well-rounded team effort was evident with five Pirates earning two points in the contest. Southwestern scored their four goals on 13 shots while the Bulldogs recorded 10 shots. Southwestern had just one corner kick in the game while TLU had 11 chances but the strong Pirate defense held them at bay.

With the win the Pirates move to 1-0 on the season. They will have their first home games of the year on Friday and Saturday as they take on the University of Texas-Tyler and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, respectively, at 5:00 pm.