GEORGETOWN, Texas – A pair of goals in the first 12:24 of the game proved to be all the Southwestern University women's soccer team would need in a 4-1 victory over Centenary College on Sunday.
Southwestern (7-4-4, 7-2-1 SCAC) maintained its spot as the third seed in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference standings with the winning pushing its points total to 22 with seven wins and a tie. The Pirates need just two points in its final four matches to guarantee a spot in the SCAC Championship tournament.
Centenary (2-13-1, 2-8-0 SCAC) was putting up a strong effort defensively for the first few minutes in front of the 225 raucous fans in attendance for Southwestern's Senior Day, but the Ladies would quickly find themselves in a 2-0 hole they could not dig themselves out of.
Juliet Pridgen got the scoring started in the 8th minute when she was Johnny-on-the-spot being in the right place at the right time as Centenary's Madison Ersoff misplayed Samantha Hazen's centering pass from the left side. Pridgen need just a tap in from point blank range to put the Pirates up 1-0.
Hazen was credited with an assist on the play giving her a team-best seven on the season.
Juliana Chapa upped the Southwestern lead to 2-0 when she scored an Olympico, which is another soccer term for a goal scored directly off the foot of the corner kick taker.
Chapa, who was one of six seniors along with Pridgen, Alexis Guajardo, Ella Ruehr, Karlee Holmes and Sydney Kattawar honored prior to the game, scored her first goal of the season and second of her career in her last match at Varsity Field. The goal came nearly three years to the day since her previous goal in a 2-1 loss to Trinity on Oct. 18, 2019.
Centenary would crack the scoreboard in the 27th minute when Gabby McDonald won possession from a Southwestern defender and had a one-on-one opportunity that she slipped past a diving Johnna Campbell in goal for the Pirates.
Campbell finished the afternoon with two saves among the three shots she saw.
The duo of Pridgen and Hazen hooked up for an insurance goal in the 30th minute when Pridgen sent in a volley from just outside penalty box along the right side to an awaiting Hazen who blasted a one-timer by Ersoff. The goal was Hazen's team-high fifth of the season giving her 17 points, which is also tops among the Pirates.
The 3-1 lead at the half remained unchanged until the 71st minute when Southwestern scored on a second Olimpico of the match when Laren Gradt took a corner kick from the left corner and found the twine for her fourth goal of the season.
Ersoff scooped up five saves as Southwestern outshot the Ladies 15-4 and held a 9-3 shots on goal advantage.
UP NEXT
The Pirates may want to change their nickname to the Road Warriors as they will play their final four regular season contests on the road as well as any postseason match that may be added to their schedule. A trip to Sherman, Texas, is first up when Southwestern will take on Austin College (0-12-1, 0-10 SCAC) at 6 p.m. CDT on Friday, Oct. 21.