When it came to Friday's home contest against Holmes, there wasn't much that went wrong for the Bears at all as they got a complete team effort including a record-breaking performance from sophomore Justin Ruiz in a 6-1 win over the Bulldogs.
 
"We were back playing like we should," Southwest head coach Zach Mills said. "It is a great feeling. We knew that we needed to come out (ready). Honestly, before tonight, we haven't played as a team really, really well since our Texas trip."
 
While the Bears (5-4-1, 1-2-1 MACCC) shined as a team, sophomore Justin Ruiz stole the show. He finished with one goal, but set a new school record with four assists in a game.
 
"I didn't even know (about the assist record), hopefully I can break it next game," said Ruiz jokingly. He added that Coach Mills delivered a clear message prior to the match against the Bulldogs. "Before the game, Coach put in our heads that we had to win the game so we just came out here calm and relaxed and it showed on the field."
 
Ruiz's big night started in just the third minute of play when he scored his goal on an assist from
Roberto Garcia Gomez giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
 
It unfortunately didn't last as the Bulldogs battled back and drew even 10:00 later with a score.
 
The Bears surged ahead and jumped back on top in the 23^rd minute when Froylan Texoco-Rodriguez found himself in the right place at the right time, sending a rebound on a shot from Jeysson Cruz in the net making it a 2-1 game.
 
Southwest followed that up about 15:00 later with a goal from Jamie Settles. His make came on a rebound off of a shot from Ruiz marking Settles' first goal and Ruiz's first assist of the night.
 
Leading 3-1 at the half, Southwest carried that momentum over to the second half. Raul Alegre got into the act in the 51^st minute getting an assist from Ruiz before finding the back of the net increasing the Bear lead to 4-1.
 
Not even 10:00 later, Ruiz served-up his third assist on a goal from Jack Boyd making it a 5-1 game. In the 65^th minute, a Ruiz corner kick was knocked in via a header from Settles pushing the lead to the eventual final.
 
In addition to Ruiz's big night Settles also shined with two goals.
 
Southwest will be back at home for its next match which will take place Friday at 7 p.m. against East Mississippi.