COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team closed out their regular season schedule with a defeat as the Metropolitan State University Denver Roadrunners tallied a pair of early goals and held on for a 2-1 win on Friday evening at Mountain Lion Stadium.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 1, MSUD 2
Records: UCCS (10-4-4, 5-3-2 RMAC), MSUD (10-5-2, 4-4-1 RMAC)
Facility: Mountain Lion Stadium | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions fall to 14-44-5 all-time against the Roadrunners.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After taking the opening kickoff, the Roadrunners took less than a minute to weave through the UCCS defense as Alec Rodriguez found Tanner Stevenson for a goal at the 47 second mark to give MSUD a 1-0 lead.
- MSU Denver would add to their lead in the 17th minute after Alec Nguyen fielded the ball around midfield from a Roadrunner throw in and touched a beautiful lead pass ahead to Adan Perez, who finished at the net to push the MSUD advantage to 2-0.
- Now down by a pair of goals, the UCCS offense went to work as they recorded seven shots throughout the remainder of the half but were unable to get any to fall with the Roadrunners maintaining their lead at the halftime break.
- Coming out of the intermission, the Mountain Lions continued to push the tempo on the offensive end as they logged the first two shots of the period and maintained possession of the ball for much of the opening ten minutes. In the 55th minute, the team's third shot of the half would result in a score as junior Noah Espino-Kennedy tapped a pass forward to freshman Miles Seminario, who drove towards the left side of the goalie box and fired a left-footed shot that just snuck into the top corner of the net to cut the UCCS deficit to 2-1.
- Just about five minutes later, the Mountain Lions would have another golden opportunity to bring the game even as Marvin Putu touched a pass to the middle where Lars Walczyk was waiting to fire a laser from 20 yards out that deflected off the crossbar of the goal and fell back into play for the MSUD defense to clear away in protection of their lead.
- UCCS continued to pepper MSU Denver goalie Ross Miller for the final 30 minutes of action with 12 additional shots, five of them being on goal, but were unable to find the equalizer as the match fell in the favor of the Roadrunners by a score of 2-1.
STATS FROM THE GAME:
- UCCS outshot the Roadrunners 28-9 and held a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal. The Mountain Lions also recorded 12 corner kicks to just three for MSU Denver.
- Seminario notches his first goal of the season while Espino Kennedy logs the first assist of his season.
- Matteo Moreno Madrid, Alex Andersson, and Kolby Raineri tied for the team lead with four shots apiece, while Alan Araiza-Zarate tallied three shots.
- Frankie Turnbull made his first start of the season in frame, playing the full 90 minutes while making two saves and allowing two goals.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Prior to tonight's match, the UCCS men's soccer program honored four graduating seniors in a senior night celebration. Among those being honored were Alan Araiza-Zarate, Luka Cecic, Liam McGuire, and Carlos Vargas.
- The Mountain Lions conclude the regular season with a 10-4-4 overall record, with their ten regular season wins being the most in a single season since the 2016 team won 11 games in the regular season.
- Following Friday evening's action across the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), UCCS sits in fourth place with a 5-3-2 conference record and 17 points in the standings. Colorado Christian University and Regis University sit tied with 14 points and currently occupy the fifth and sixth spots in the standings. Both teams will complete their regular season slates on Sunday, with CCU taking on Colorado Mesa University and Regis battling Adams State University.
- With 28 shots in tonights match, the Mountain Lions have established a new single season record for shots with 338. The previous record was set at 327 during the 2010 season.
UP NEXT:
- With a spot in the RMAC Men's Soccer Tournament secured, the Mountain Lions will now await the results of Sunday's conference-wide matchups to determine tournament seeding. The final tournament bracket will be announced by the conference office following the completion of the league's five matches on Sunday, Oct. 23.
SOCIAL:
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
