IRVING, Texas - A goal in the 25th mintue by junior Alex Newell and a terrific effort by senior goalkeeper Ryan Benner and the Southwestern defense led the Pirates men's soccer squad to a 1-0 upset over No. 3 seed Colorado College on Friday afternoon at the SCAC Men's Soccer Championship Quarterfinals.

Southwestern was out shot 25-9, but held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks. The numbers are deceiving as the Pirates parked the bus in front of goal throughout the second half to preserve the 1-0 lead.

In the first half, it was an even battle with the Tigers holding a slight 11-8 edge in shots. The Pirates were super aggressive in the first 30 minutes as they looked to push ahead and overcome slow starts that plagued them in earlier matchups against Colorado College.

Newell stepped up and headed a beautiful ball from senior Christian Lopez, finding the back of the net for the lead.

From there, it was all defense as they made things difficult for the Tiger attack throughout the rest of the match. The likes of senior Carlos Huntley-Jimenez, sophomore Wil Mekelburg, sophomore Victor Herrera, and sophomore Logan Jenkins were terrific all throughout the second half.

Benner was key as well, coming away with eight stops in goal to earn the shutout and push the Pirates, the No. 6 seed in the SCAC Championship, into the semifinals.

Though the attack slowed down after the first goal, the likes of Newell, Lopez, sophomore Kip Karschnik, and junior Jake Swonke played smart soccer throughout the rest of the match as they tried to keep possession for as long as possible and eventually were able to run out the clock in the waining minutes.

Karschnik led the attack with three shots followed by Newell with two. Newell's goal was his second of the season while Lopez's assist was his fourth.

With the win, the Pirates move to 6-11-3 overall and are onto the SCAC Semifinals. They will kickoff at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon as they will take on the host school and No. 2 seeded Dallas Crusaders.