IRVING, Texas – Despite already having clinched a spot in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason tournament, the Southwestern University men's soccer team needed a win over the University of Dallas to secure the tournament's second seed and they did just that thanks to a pair of Caleb Allen goals in a 2-1 victory.
Southwestern (8-5-2, 6-2-0 SCAC) could have finished as low as fourth with a loss or a tie so that is why the importance of Allen's second goal was so key to where the Pirates would find themselves in next weekend's tournament.
The Pirates put up 13 shots on goal and 19 total shots as Dallas' Anthony Gonzalez had to put his gloves to good use or else the Crusaders would have been handily defeated.
As it turns out, Gonzalez was up to the challenge and allowed just one goal in each half and saving 11 total.
Allen would get the scoring started at the 13:57 mark of the first half thanks to an assist from Michael Grimm. The play started in the Southwestern defensive half of the field and Grimm's nearly 50-yard kick up field found Allen who settled the ball and planted it past Gonzalez for a 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders (3-11-2, 0-7-0 SCAC) got on the board when they forced the issue late in the first half and earned a penalty kick when Southwestern was called for a foul just inside its own penalty box.
Ben Utz stepped up to the spot and put the ball inside the right post to tie the match at 1-1.
The tie was unknotted less than two minutes into the second half when Allen tallied his second goal of the match.
Another long pass from inside the defensive half of the field this time from the foot of Raghav Sharma found a streaking Allen who was able to get enough on the ball to slide it to his right past Gonzalez as the ball trickled over the line for a 2-1 lead at the 46:50 mark.
Play would be tightly contested the rest of the way as the Crusaders wanted to avoid a winless conference slate with both teams combining for 23 fouls and six yellow cards.
Southwestern would hold advantages on offense in shots (19-10), shots on goal (13-2) and corner kicks (11-4).
Jack Viles recorded one save to earn the win for the Pirates while Gonzalez tallied 11 saves for the Crusaders.
Photo by Carlos Barron
NEXT UP
Southwestern will make the short trip to Sherman, Texas, for the SCAC soccer tournament, where the Pirates will take on the University of St. Thomas at 7:30 p.m. MDT on Friday, Nov. 4 at Apple Stadium on the campus of Austin College.
St, Thomas comes into the match as the three seed and own a 12-1-3 overall record and 5-1-2 in SCAC play with the lone loss on Friday, Oct. 7 at Southwestern 2-1. The upcoming contest between the Celts and Pirates will be the third of the season as the two teams faced off in a non-conference tilt on Sept. 16 that ended in a 1-1 draw,
The winner of the Southwestern and St. Thomas nightcap on Friday will face the winner of the opener between top seed Trinity University (8-4-3, 6-1-1 SCAC) and fourth-seeded Colorado College (8-2-6, 4-0-4 SCAC). Trinity and Colorado College square off on Friday at 5 p.m. CDT with the championship being at 1 p.m. CDT on Sunday.