SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Southwestern men's soccer closed out the SCAC regular season with a 2-2 tie in double overtime against #1 Trinity, using a near record-setting performance from Daniel Poole in goal to get the job done.
Poole was busy all evening and ended the night with 13 saves on 34 shots faced, just one save shy of tying the SU record for most saves in a match.
Trinity took control of the game early with two goals in the opening 23 minutes of the match, staking their claim on their home turf. Southwestern refused to back down and punched back immediately with a goal two and a half minutes later. Zach Faulkner crossed the ball into the box and found Timothy Eamma who punched the ball in the back of the net, bringing the count to 2-1.
The fury of scoring came to an end as the defenses took control of the game, seinding it into the break with the scoreboard reading 2-1.
The Tigers came out of the break on a hot streak and rattled off shot after shot on the Pirates, but SU held strong and fended off each attack with grace to remain in the game.
As the match rolled into the 80th minute Southwestern turned up their attack and began to find the soft spots of Trinity's defense. The Pirates attacked from all angles and got the look they needed as Steven Resnik found Evan Perkins who put the equalizer in the goal with less than three minutes to play.
Riding high SU held strong and closed out the half to send the game into overtime and continued the pressure into the first overtime, getting off four shots in the first five minutes. A late foul in the box with 45 seconds in the first frame seemed to spell doom for the Pirates, but TU's Yuri Ribiero's penalty kick was saved by Poole to send the game into double overtime.
Tried as they might the Tigers attacked Southwestern, looking for the game winner, but the Pirate defensive line forced Trinity into tough shots that veered wide of the goal and the game closed with a 2-2 tie.
Southwestern trailed 36-14 in shots but were nearly even in corner kicks, 4-5.
Now 11-7-1 on the season and 5-4-1 in the SCAC the Pirates return to non-conference action to face UC Santa Cruz in San Antonio on Sunday, October 28 at noon.