COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team scored two first half goals and only gave up one early in the second half to finish the regular season home schedule with a 2-1 non-conference victory against Westminster. The Mountain Lions (11-4) earned goals from
Jake McAllister and
Blake Barnes for the seventh home win of the season, the most since 1999.
UCCS is tied for fourth in the RMAC standings with MSU Denver with 18 points. The Mountain Lions can finish anywhere between second and fifth in the conference standings ahead of the postseason tournament begins with the first round on Nov. 4. The first two seeds will receive a bye into the conference semifinals on Nov. 6, and the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds will host the first round games.
The Mountain Lion defense held the Griffins to no shots on goal in the first half and the offense held a 12-3 overall shot advantage. UCCS put five shots on the board in the first five minutes and the sixth shot found McAllister for the first goal of the day.
JJ Meyer put the ball into play off of a corner kick on the right side, and it bounced loose before
J.R. Calhoun passed it to McAlister for the goal. It was his second goal of the season and the first since Sept. 11, against Fort Hays State.
A foul by Westminster in the 33rd minute set up a free kick for the Mountain Lions from 20 yards out and off-center to the right of the goal. Barnes took the shot from the free kick spot for his second goal of the season and pushed the Mountain Lion to 2-0. The score would be the game-winner after the Griffins scored five minutes into the second half. UCCS held Westminster to three shots in the final 20 minutes to secure the 2-1 victory in the final scheduled home game of the season.
The Mountain Lions matched last season's win total of 11 with a minimum of three games left on the schedule between regular season and postseason events. The 11 wins is tied for fourth in program history, and another win would be the most since the 1999 season.
David Meyer and
Peter Vogrin split time at goalkeeper with Meyer in the first half and Vogrin in the second. The defense held Westminster to three shots on goal throughout the game in the 11th game this season with opponents taking five or fewer shots on goal.
UCCS will be on the road to close out the regular season in a pair of games that will count for postseason seeding in the tournament. The Mountain Lions will take on Adams State on Friday and Fort Lewis on Sunday before the brackets are released Sunday night.
