Allen's Hat Trick catapults Men's Soccer over Centenary in Huge Scoring Night
SHREVEPORT, La. – A big night awaited the University of Dallas men's soccer team (8-7-1, 7-4-1 SCAC), taking down Centenary College of Louisiana (3-12, 2-10 SCAC) on a damp Friday night. Dallas poured a season-high six goals, the most since a 9-0 victory against Dallas Christian College on October 21, 2011. It also is the first time, UD has scored over four goals since defeating the Gents 4-0 in 2012 at Crusader Field in Irving, Texas.
Senior Colton Allen (Roanoke, Texas) first career hat trick, and UD's first of the campaign headlined an impressive night for the visitors. The last time the Crusaders had an individual notch a trio of goals in the same game dates back Oct. 13, 2008 against East Texas Baptist University, by Adam Lunger. The most recent Crusader to notch a hat trick on the road was again by Lunger on September, 22, 2007, at Gallaudet University.
Dallas got the offense rolling right off the bat, jumping ahead with a netter by sophomore Luke Schwarz (Tucson, Ariz.) at the 1:51 minute mark. The midfielder etched his first multiple scoring game of his career and increased his season total to three goals with his second straight at the 8:04 mark.
"Centenary started with a lot of spirit, so Luke's early goal was very important," head coach David Hoffmann commented. "The conditions were very difficult because of the standing water, but the boys adjusted tactics very well to compensate."
Allen took over with the first pair of his eventual three goals throughout the remainder of the opening half. The senior forward improved his amount of goals on the year to five – second on the team - and is also tied with Schwarz for second on the squad with 10 points each. Allen's first two goals occurred in the 19th and 26th minutes.
The Crusaders utilized a team-high, four-goal on the season to propel themselves to a 4-0 edge at intermission. Dallas also outshot the Maroon and White 12-4 at that point and would match the second highest season-most 18 shots in the contest. It is the fourth time UD has logged that many attempts, with the season-high coming earlier this month against the Gents in Irving, Texas.
In the second stanza, Allen hit the magic hat trick about 10 minutes into the frame, with assist from freshman Thomas Struxness (Universal City, Texas) – his first point of his career. The netter at the time for Allen set the highest mark for goals UD had knocked in a game since the 2012 triumph against Centenary, with the score 5-0.
However, sophomore Trae Hampton (Paducah, Ky.) wanted to join the scoring frenzy and capped a gigantic scoring night for the Navy and White with his first goal of his collegiate career at the 80:57 mark. Junior Ben Mannings (Bath, England) made the cross pass for the assist, and Hampton was able to complete the header.
"As concerned as we were about the conditions, they ultimately favored us on a couple of the goals," Coach Hoffmann observed. "The ball hit puddles and did unconventional things that benefitted us."
Sophomore Naseem Said (Pearland, Texas) keeps being involved, earning points for the third-straight game off of two assists. He now has three total assists to match his career number in goals, which puts him third on the team with nine points. Six of those points have come in the last three matches, with two each of the outings.
Allen and Schwarz led the offense with a game-high four shots, and UD's leading scorer of this one landed the entire quartet of attempts on target. Schwarz placed three shots on goal. FreshmanAndrew Ciancone (Dallas, Texas) and Struxness contributed multi-shot contests with three and two, respectively. Ciancone added two shots on goal, as the Crusaders finished with a 12-4 advantage.
Centenary had 10 shots in the game, with John Vasquez leading the team with two shots for the lone multiple shot result on the team. Tristan Serigny, Michael Pullano, Jeremy Klespis, and Chase Clark put all the shots on frame for the Gents.
Junior Tino Gamueda (Lubbock, Texas) earned the victory (8-7-1) in the start. He worked 67:42 minutes and grabbed two saves. Freshman Jacob Chimento (St. Louis, Mo.) also nabbed a pair of saves in the remaining 22:18 minutes between the posts.
Rylan Whan and Kaleb Behm split 45 minutes in the goalkeeper role on the night. Whan (3-11) was saddled in the setback after allowing four goals in the start. The duo would each collect three saves.
It was the Crusaders' fifth shutout this fall, and third in a row against Centenary - dating back to 2014.
The victory of UD marks the most conference wins since joining the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) five seasons ago. The Crusaders also increased its highest total of points for the standings (22), which was claimed at an all-time high last Sunday since joining the league. With two contests remaining on the year, Dallas is slotted for third place.
UP NEXT
Dallas finishes its last regular season road match on Sunday, October 25 at Austin College. Kickoff is slated for around 2 p.m. after the women's soccer tilt.