Chris Hovasse posted his second consecutive shutout as the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs soccer team stunned the No. 20 Colorado School of Mines Orediggers 1-0 Sunday at Golden, Colo.
"Hovasse played with extreme confidence and that was apparent from the time we got off the bus," said UCCS coach Flavio Mazzetti. "From a captain's standpoint, he really led us from the back."
The senior from Colorado Springs made four saves to lift the Mountain Lions to a 2-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record, 3-2 overall. Mines, which was ranked 20th in the Sept. 6 national poll, fell to 5-1, 1-1 in RMAC play.
The Mountain Lions' defensive quartet of
Eric Foulk,
Art Cutter,
Brian Best and
Matt Lay played the entire 90 minutes, allowing Mines only 11 shots.
"The defense played very well today," said Mazzetti. "(The Orediggers) were never able to break us down."
To keep the powerful Mines offense, which had scored 15 goals in its first five matches, at bay, the Mountain Lions had to not only be precise, they had to be flexible.
"We adjusted to everything Mines did," said Mazzetti. "We had to make a little bit of an adjustment because Mines went to a full-time long-ball game once they fell behind.
"The most impressive thing was how well (the Mountain Lions) played together."
But while the defense controlled the tempo, the game-winner came out of the midfield. In the 49th minute, midfielder
Jeff Bettner took possession of the ball near the center line, eluded one man and penetrated. Forward
Marcus Reynolds got himself free down the right side, collected Bettner's pass and sent a crossing pass across the goal mouth. With Mines' 6-foot-7 goalkeeper Kevin Galloway manning the near post, midfielder
Evan Neufeld charged the far post and one-timed Reynoldsâ€TM pass into the open net.
"We're possessing the ball real well as a team," said Hovasse. "We're getting to the point where we're getting very comfortable as a team."
The Mountain Lions will host Colorado State-Pueblo on Wednesday at Sand Creek Stadium in what will be UCCS' first home match of the season.
"I think everybody's going to be up for this game," said Hovasse. "Everybody's excited to finally play at home and have our fans behind us."
