GEORGETOWN, Texas — Forward Seth Holzmann scored two unassisted goals and assisted on another to lead the Southwestern University Pirates men's soccer team past Colorado College 3-1.
The Pirates' four-match win streak appeared in jeopardy early when Colorado College connected on a series of passes with the ball moving from Aidan Longhurst to Sajjan Singh to Griffin Meyer for a goal just 2:30 into the match.
Colorado College threatened again 15 minutes in on a corner kick from Meyer that found Singh with defender Wil Mekelburg making the defensive save. The Tigers' next corner kick was diverted to stave off the Colorado College attack.
The Pirates struggled to gain traction in the first half with a slow-paced match, getting only three shots to Colorado College's five.
Things shifted dramatically for the Pirates in the second half. Almost an hour into the match, the Pirates fired off a number of shots in quick succession, getting five in a six-minute stretch and getting 12 in the half.
Southwestern broke through at the 52:41 mark when Holzmann scored an unassisted goal seconds after teammate Garrison Van Houten's shot ricocheted off the post. Over the next few minutes, the Pirates kept up the pressure with three more shots and three corner kicks. Colorado College survived on a defensive save by John Schuler and a save by Chase Heyman on Jack Adams' shot but could never regain momentum.
Holzmann broke the Colorado College defense again, finding Ashton Bynum for the game-winner at the 74:04 mark.
Frustration settled in from there with Colorado College's Singh drawing a yellow card almost three minutes later. With a little more than 10 minutes remaining, Holzmann added a decisive insurance goal on a penalty kick.
Like a cornered animal, Colorado College made a final push over the final 10 minutes but the Southwestern defensive line held firm, getting defensive saves from Luis Ramirez, Mekelberg and goalie Jackson Krueger, who stopped Colorado College twice in the last five minutes to finish with four on the day and improve to 4-0 this season protecting the net.
With his two goals today, Holzmann now has three in his young collegiate career with two coming on penalty kicks, including the game-winner against Texas Lutheran University. He now has seven points on the season with six shots on goal. Bynum's goal was the first of his collegiate career.
Southwestern's victory moves them to 5-1-1 on the season, which is currently the best mark in the SCAC. Colorado College falls to 4-4 this year. The Pirates will hit the road next week for matches against Schreiner on Friday, Sep. 27 and Trinity University on Sunday, Sep. 29.