Five games into his first collegiate season of soccer was all the time it took for freshman midfielder and forward Chandler Crosswait to score his first career goal.

In Denver’s game against Presbyterian College on Sept. 14, Crosswait delivered the final goal in the 83rd minute, capitalizing on a rebounded penalty kick and helping the Pioneers to a 3-1 victory.

“It’s a situation you wouldn’t want to be in, but Chandler [was] in the right spot at the right time,” said head coach Bobby Muuss. “He got his body in between a couple of defenders and put the ball in the back of the net.”

The Pioneers were up 2-1 at that point, with Crosswait’s goal bringing them to a 3-1 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.

“It was a great feeling to get my first goal and just to get some minutes; it felt good to do it for our team,” said Crosswait.

That attitude of putting the team first is something that Muuss said he tries to instill in the younger players. A total of six freshmen were added to the roster this season as part of a recruiting class that was ranked No. 9 nationally.

“When you have young guys who don’t come in and try to step on people’s toes and want to be good teammates first, it’s well appreciated by the older guys,” said Muuss. “Chandler and all his teammates have fit in tremendously with this group; it’s been a real positive for them.”

Crosswait said that not only the team, but also the campus and the community have been positive aspects. After giving consideration to a few other colleges, Crosswait ultimately decided on the soccer program at DU.

“Denver in general is amazing and this campus is beautiful,” said Crosswait. “I love the coaches, and when I visited the team, I stayed with a bunch of them. I just thought it was the right place for me.”

Originally from Bedford, Texas, Crosswait began playing soccer at the age of four, and by age nine he started to play competitively. According to College Soccer News, Crosswait ranked as the nation’s No. 37 recruit for the class of 2012.

“I got to see Chandler play a lot throughout the recruiting process. He’s one of those players that just continues to get better,” said Muuss.

Allowing himself to improve and build up his playing time is Crosswait’s main goal for the season. He understands that his career is not going to be defined by his freshman season.

“I know I’m not just going to come in and start; I just want to keep going in, doing some good things, getting some good minutes and keep getting better,” said Crosswait.

For now, he said, all he can do is put his best foot forward and, in the meantime, focus on his goals outside of soccer. Crosswait has declared a major in physical therapy and is working on balancing his first quarter of classes with his first collegiate season.

“I feel like the season’s going to keep going up, because we have a great group of guys and we can do good things together,” said Crosswait.

As for the ranking of the freshman recruit class, Muuss said they’ll know how true the ranking is once they’re seniors. Until then, he’s working on building them up to their full potential.

“We’re very fortunate for the talent that we have in this group, but only time will tell. We’ll see how well that ranking really does; but right now it’s been panning out great for us,” said Muuss.