GEORGETOWN, TEXAS - Southwestern University Men's Lacrosse battled a talented College of Wooster squad to the brink, narrowly falling in the final minutes, 14-13. The Pirates scored an unbelievable six unanswered goals within five minutes in the fourth quarter to take the lead, but ultimately came up one goal short against a 6-2 Wooster squad. The Pirates fall to 4-4 overall. 

The Fighting Scots entered the day on a high, beating UMass Boston last Sunday 17-10. Wooster continued their momentum in the first quarter with four unanswered goals. Senior Matthew Houtz scored, which marked his 100th career point as a Pirate. Freshman Marshall Mohun snipped the top corner to cut the deficit to 4-2. 

Southwestern's depth was on full display in the second quarter as four different Pirates scored. Sophomore Cal Stewart scored his second goal of the season before the freshman Abram Gareis scored his fourth of the year. Sophomore Jeffrey Jordan and Houtz scored to send the Pirates into half with a one goal lead, 6-5. 

However, the first and third quarters were dominated by the Scots as the Pirates were out scored 6-1. Southwestern manufactured nine shots in the quarter but could not capitalize. We moved into the third quarter with the momentum clearly on the Scots side as the Pirates faced a 11-7 deficit. 

The fourth quarter started and the game was flipped on it's head as junior faceoff specialist Trey Pena and Houtz took over after the Scots scored first to make it 12-7. Pena won the next faceoff as junior Josh Swandal scored on an assist from sophomore Keaten Cox. Pena won again after the goal as he won six straight faceoffs. Houtz knotted a hat trick after the faceoff to pull within three goals. 

Next, Pena won another faceoff and dished to Houtz who scored his fourth goal. 40 seconds later, after multiple wide shots Mohun scored as the Pirates trailed 12-11. Nearly five seconds later Pena raced down the field off another face off win, dished to Houtz who scored again to tie the game at 12-12 as the atmosphere at Varsity Field was immaculate. One minute later, Southwestern scored their sixth unanswered goal as sophomore Jake Trailer dished to Houtz to take the lead for the senior's seventh goal. The Pirates scored an incredible six goals in four minutes and 34 seconds. 

Unfortunately, Wooster played sound defensively for the rest of the game, holding the Pirates scoreless in the final seven minutes. The Scots scored twice to escape with the victory. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Houtz netted a career-high seven goals as his previous high was four. The Pirates all-time game record is nine goals. 
• The senior joins fellow captain Jackson Strauser as the second Pirate to surpass 100 points this season. 
• Pena was arguably the Pirates most valuable weapon, going 21-31 from faceoffs as the Scots best option was held to a 9-29 effort. 
• The junior also picked up majority of his grounds balls with a career-high 17 on the day. 
• Pena is winning faceoffs at 66% rate this season, also collecting two assists yesterday as he absolutely changed the course of the game in the fourth quarter. 
• Southwestern fell short in the turnover battle, committing 23 opposed to the Scots 15. 
• The Pirates picked up 52 grounds and won 22-32 faceoffs. 
• Sophomore Dante Avicolli had 13 saves with seven ground balls. 

UP NEXT
Southwestern looks to bounce back at home on Wednesday night as they take on UMass Boston at 7 p.m.