Men's Soccer ups Winning Streak Sunday; Clinch 1st Round Bye in SCAC Tournament

IRVING, Texas - The University of Dallas men's soccer team prevailed 2-1 over Southwestern University on Sunday to stretch its winning streak to a season-high six matches. Dallas scored the first two goals of the game with one per half, and then withstood the Pirates' offense in the later minutes to hold onto its third victory of the home stand. On the year, UD is 6-1-1 both at home and on the road as its record improved to 12-2-2 overall and 10-1-2 in the conference.

Nat Kajiwara (Southlake, Texas) entered the day tied atop the team in goals, but would regain sole possession of the lead with his ninth of the season about eight minutes completed. Chase Reynolds (Southlake, Texas), who assisted both scoring plays for the Crusaders to claim the team-lead seven; found his freshman classmate on a high pass to the left side of the box. Kajiwara played it down off his body and got a strike into the netting. That 1-0 lead stood through intermission, and the Crusaders held a 10-2 advantage in shots.

At the 57:47 minute mark, the home squad doubled the margin with Tomas DePetris (Houston, Texas) earning his third goal of the year.

It was a necessary score, because Southwestern's Jake Swonke responded with one about two minutes later to close the gap. Christian Lopez crossed from the left of the field to create the assist. The Pirates totaled 10 shots in the second stanza and had a couple opportunities to get the equalizer late, but Dallas' defense kept everything from crossing into the net.

The Crusaders have now played in 10 matches determined by a goal and are 8-2 in such results. UD's current six-game winning streak includes a trio of one-goal wins.

This stretch without a loss ties the longest on the campaign for the Crusaders, when they won four and had two ties to start the first half of league play. Dallas also secured a first round bye in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) with Colorado College tying Texas Lutheran University.

SOCIAL MEDIA

.@UDsoccer Final: #UDCrusaders WIN! 6 in a row with the latest over Southwestern! #GoUD #UDMS #SCACmsoc #d3soc pic.twitter.com/LyhYrZcFLp

— UDallas Athletics (@UDallasSports) October 22, 2017

UP NEXT

Dallas concludes the regular season on October 27^th with a 4 p.m. match versus Colorado College. It will be "Senior Day" for the Crusaders.