DENVER - Scoring the first goal has usually been golden for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, with the Mountain Lions winning nine of 11 matches with one tie when scoring first over the past two seasons.
No so on Sunday, though.
Despite scoring first, the Mountain Lions couldn't hold the lead and were beaten 4-1 by the Metro State Roadrunners at Auraria Field.
Matt Friesen converted
Eric Goldberg's pass off a free kick in the 31st minute to give UCCS (6-8-1, 3-6-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) the lead. It was Friesen's sixth goal of the season and Goldberg's fourth assist.
Prior to Sunday, the Mountain Lions were 9-1-1 when scoring first since Henry Ellis became the teamâ€TMs coach prior to the 2008 season. Metro State would make that 9-2-1 with a 30-shot barrage against an injury-ravaged UCCS defense.
Steven Emory scored the first of his three goals with just 4:03 remaining in the first half. The teams went into the intermission tied.
Emory scored twice more early into the second half, with the first coming at the 53:34 mark and the second at 56:36. Ri Armstrong scored the final goal for Metro State (9-4-2, 6-2-2 RMAC) with under five minutes remaining.
Sam Rolph and Chris Yoder each had two assists for the Roadrunners and Mike Martinez had one.
Adam Liszewski had nine saves in the losing effort for the Mountain Lions. Dominique Griffith made three saves for Metro State.
