Written by Miguel Mendez
The Colorado College men’s soccer team stayed at home for first Block Break to take on Texas Lutheran University on Friday and Southwestern University on Sunday. The Tigers won their match against Texas Lutheran by the narrowest of margins, 1-0. CC then built upon that victory to get their third straight win against Southwestern with a comfortable score of 4-0.
The Tigers were returning to play after receiving their first loss of the season against Trinity. CC lost 1-2 on Friday but came back and won 1-0 on Sunday against Schreiner University.
“The coaching staff more than anybody helped us,” said senior captain Soren Frykholm when asked about the aftermath of the Trinity game. “There’s lots to learn anytime we play against Trinity whether we win or lose. But basically, coach told us ‘Friday is history. You’re never going to get that game back and all that matters is the next game.’ It helped us focus on the task at hand.”
This mentality helped the Tigers get their first conference win against Texas Lutheran. CC completely dominated the game, as they were able to fire off a total of 22 shots compared to Texas Lutheran’s eight shots. Despite the constant barrage of shots, sophomore midfielder Robbie Malone scored with 25 minutes left in the game. The lone goal was all CC needed to secure the win.
“Well we started scoring goals,” joked Head Coach Scott Palguta when asked what was working during the recent three-game win streak. “I think it’s been a steady progression over the last three games. The guys really dug in deep in the second half against Schreiner and we got the goal that secured the win.”
CC continued their winning streak in the game against Southwestern University as they took another conference game to improve their conference record to four wins and only one loss. The Tigers continued their dominant form as they fired off a total of 21 shots to Texas Lutheran’s meager five throughout the game.
“We’ve talked about it as a team where we haven’t seen a game where we put a team completely in the dirt,” said Malone about the performance against Southwestern. “Now that we’ve done it, it’ll be easier to do it with other teams but also it shows that we can do it so it builds our confidence as a team.”
The team’s defense continued to appear insurpassable as they got two more shutouts over the weekend. The Tigers have only conceded a total of three goals throughout eight games so far this season.
“We’re in our best form at this point of the season,” said Frykholm when asked about the defensive performance this season, “Led by Theo and Jack we just have a strong back line that plays really well together. Always on the same page. No one is perfect but they are so close. They just leave so little space and we’re super proud of only conceding three goals so far.”
CC’s men’s soccer team continues their season this weekend with two more home games as part of a seven-game home stand where they will play Centenary on Friday, Sept. 30 and Austin College Sunday, Oct. 2. The Tigers will look to improve their overall record as well as their conference record.
“We’re basically playing out our home schedule right now. We’re at home for seven games, then we’re on the road for three straight weekends,” said Palguta when asked about the schedule. “It’s going to be a real grind so we definitely want to take advantage of our time at home.”