GEORGETOWN, Texas – Michael Grimm netted a goal in the first half and assisted on another in the second half to propel the Southwestern University men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Centenary on Sunday afternoon at Varsity Field.
Southwestern (5-4-2, 3-1-0 SCAC) vaulted into second place in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference with the win and Texas Lutheran's 2-2 tie with St. Thomas.
Grimm, a 5-foot-11 sophomore midfielder from Southlake, Texas, put the Pirates on the board first with a brilliantly placed header to the left side of the net off an even more masterfully tossed throw in from Luca Cipleu.
Cipleu is Southwestern's throw-in specialist, and he delivered with the 90-foot toss from the right sideline to just inside the six-yard box when Grimm was able to connect with the header,
Centenary (1-6-5, 0-3-0 SCAC) played well despite being winless in the SCAC this season, but Southwestern was able to control the pace of the game and outshot the Gentlemen 17-3 for the match including 10-1 in the second half alone.
Another header of an out-of-bounds play gave the Pirates an insurance goal in the 78th minute when Grimm took a corner kick from the left corner and Carr Panetta blasted a running header past Centenary goalie Sami Borchalli.
The assist by Grimm was his team-best fourth of the season while Panetta and Grimm are tied for the team-lead in goals with three apiece.
Borchalli was forced to make five saves on the afternoon while Southwestern goalkeeper Jack Viles did not see a shot come anywhere near his goal thanks to a stout defensive effort by his teammates.
UP NEXT
The Pirates remain at home for next weekend when they host a pesky Colorado College squad that is undefeated in conference play at 1-0-1 and 5-2-3 overall. The Tigers are in fifth place in the SCAC with four points with six games to go while Southwestern has just four more matches before the postseason begins. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. CDT on Friday, Oct. 14.