ATLANTA, GEORGIA - Southwestern Men's Soccer surrenders a late goal in the 80th minute, falling in the SAA Tournament Semifinals against the fourth-seeded Rhodes College Lynx on Friday night, 1-0. The Pirates lost their first game in 15 matches as they fall to 15-2-1 overall, following a SAA regular season championship last weekend. The Pirates will now head home and await the NCAA Selection Show on Monday at 10 a.m.
The Pirates traveled to the Atlanta area where Oglethorpe University hosted the conference tournament. Southwestern received an opening round bye as the Lynx took down Sewanee last night to book the rematch of last Sunday's game where the Pirates were victorious, 3-1. The lone change to the Pirates lineup on Friday was freshman
Mateo Oliveira started in place of
Landon Guenther who received his fifth yellow card in the past game.
The Lynx came out stronger in the first half than the Pirates who possible felt the momentum from their win last night. Moreover, Southwestern failed to record a shot on goal in the half as they went into the break scoreless.
Southwestern began to take control and shift the possession to start the second.
Grey Richards picked up his fourth yellow card of the season in the 49th minute. In the 66th minute,
Connor Gritzmacher found
Anthony Peacher on a deep ball for a near scoring chance from a close but tough angle. In the 80th minute, Rhodes fired a long shot past the Pirates keeper to score the lone goal of the night in similar fashion to their win last night.
Richards collided into the Lynx keeper in the final minutes which caused a tough decision in the box for the referee, which was ultimately not deemed a penalty kick. Then, Southwestern fired three shots in the final two minutes before running out of time in the loss.
GAME NOTES
- The Pirates manufactured three shots on goal tonight which was the lowest all season.
- The squad lost their first game since September 4th.
- Southwestern went 15-2-3 last season and barely missed the NCAA Tournament
- However, they hold multiple impressive wins this season including to the current #11 team in the country University of Lynchburg.
UP NEXT
Stay tuned to our social media at supirates on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for updates. The NCAA Selection Show will be held on the NCAA website on Monday at 10 a.m.
