Jogging back to the sidelines, with the milestone behind him, senior Daniel Hartman approached Seymour High School boys soccer coach Matt Dennis.

What Hartman said next spoke volumes of the type of teammate he has become over the past four years.

“The first thing he said when he came off to me was that he couldn’t have done it without me or the boys,” Dennis said. “It wasn’t about his record. It was about the team.”

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Hartman netted a hat trick Thursday night to break the school record for goals in a career at SHS while also helping the Owls to a 5-0 Hoosier Hills Conference win over Madison.

All three of Hartman’s goals came in the second half, as he passed former SHS standout Nick Eddy. Eddy scored 56 goals for the Owls from 2001-04.

“It is unbelievable,” Hartman said. “I just need to thank the Lord above and all of my coaches and teammates and my mom and dad, especially my dad. He has been the one pushing me and telling me to keep on it. I really love him and need to thank him so much for that.”

Hartman scored six goals his freshman year, 11 in his sophomore season and 27 last fall. This year, his 13 goals have pushed him to 57 in total.

The Owls (8-2, 5-0 HHC) first scored with 31:31 left in the opening half. Tyler Penegar crossed a ground ball to Carter Hendrix, who used his left foot to slot a goal to the far post and put the Owls up 1-0.

Seymour added another goal with 29:25 on the clock, as Penegar stole a backwards pass by the Cubs, dribbled and fired to extend the Owls’ lead to 2-0.

At intermission, with the team up 2-0, Hartman calmed himself.

“I was thinking about (the record) a lot in the first half,” Hartman said. “At halftime, I told myself that I needed to clear my head. I did, and then the goals came.”

Dennis also fired the team up at the break.

“At halftime, we talked about the need for energy,” Dennis said. “We needed to put a show on for these little kids (on Seymour Cyclones night). I told the boys that the first half wasn’t Seymour soccer. It was good to see after halftime that we woke up and had more intensity. You could see that early goal lifted everyone’s spirits a little bit.”

Hartman scored 17 seconds into the second half, taking a pass from Evan Baurle past the Cubs’ defense before sliding a shot past the keeper to the near post to put the Owls up 3-0.

The next goal for Hartman came with 35:04 left in the game, as Blaine Spivey dribbled to the Cubs’ end line and turned around to pass. The ball found Hartman, who hit it past the Cubs’ keeper to put the Owls up 4-0.

On the final goal, Spivey led Hartman with a pass down the center of the field. Hartman fought off a defender and a charging goalkeeper and finished from close range to break the record with 20:46 left in regulation.

Dennis said Hartman is a special player.

“There aren’t many guys who are legit four-year varsity players that contribute to a tough schedule,” Dennis said. “We got it done at home, which is something that was important to it. We got to celebrate him tonight. He deserved it. I’m really proud of him.”

Patrick DeBoor was credited with the shutout, recording one save for the Owls.

Seymour still runs the table in the conference, as it is the only team without a loss. The Owls have Jennings County and Bedford North Lawrence left on the HHC schedule.

The Owls have a tough match at Class 3A No. 3 Center Grove on Saturday.