SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team opened conference action on Friday evening with a commanding 3-0 shutout victory over Westminster College at Dumke Field.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: UCCS 3, WC 0
Records: UCCS (6-1-2, 1-0-0 RMAC), WC (3-5-0, 0-1-0 RMAC)
Facility: WC Dumke Field | Salt Lake City, Utah
All-Time Series: UCCS improves to 13-9 all-time against Westminster and snaps a four-game losing streak against the Griffins dating back to the 2018 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Mountain Lions controlled the offensive tempo from the beginning of Friday evening's match in Salt Lake City, Utah, getting on the board with a pair of goals in the opening 21 minutes of action.
- After defender Carlos Vargas played the ball into the UCCS offensive attacking zone, Kolby Raineri threaded a pass inside to Luka Cecic, who used his right foot to sneak the ball into the far-right corner of the net for the Mountain Lion's first goal of the night.
- Midfielder Lars Walczyk extended the UCCS lead to two goals in the 21st minute after gaining control of the ball near the rim of the goalie box and firing a left-footed strike past the Westminster goalkeeper to give the Mountain Lions a 2-0 advantage heading into the halftime break.
- UCCS would add more cushion to their lead in the 71st minute as Raineri dribbled the ball deep into the left portion of the box before playing the ball back to a wide-open Marvin Putu for the team's third goal of the game.
- Now holding a 3-0 lead, the UCCS defense continued their stingy ways as they held the Griffins without a shot for the remaining 20 minutes of action to lock down a shutout victory in their conference opener.
STATS FROM THE GAME:
- Walczyk and Putu each scored their fourth goals of the season on Friday evening, while Cecic netted his first score of the campaign.
- Raineri recorded a pair of assists to bring his season total to five, which marks a new career-high for the senior forward and currently leads the team.
- The Mountain Lions held an 8-6 advantage in shots and matched the Griffins in shots on goal (3-3) and corner kicks (1-1).
- Declan Domyan played the full 90 minutes with three saves to tally his sixth clean sheet of the season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- The UCCS win extends the team's unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1), tying for the second longest streak in program history. The Mountain Lions will look to tie the program record (7) on Sunday against Colorado Mesa.
- The victory also marks the fourth consecutive match in which the UCCS defense has recorded a clean sheet, matching a program record that was established during the 1997 season.
- The shutout was the seventh of its kind through the first nine games of the 2022 season, which matches the third most in a single season in team history.
- With his sixth individual clean sheet of the season, Domyan moves into a tie for eighth all-time in program history for total shutouts and a tie for the fifth most shutouts in a single season.
- Entering Friday night's match, the UCCS defense ranked third in the nation with a 0.25 team goals against average, a number that dropped to 0.22 following the shutout of the Griffins.
- At the goalkeeper position, Domyan also entered Friday evening ranked among the top-five in the nation with five shutouts (T1st), a 0.923 save percentage (T5th), and a 0.26 GAA (6th). Following the clean sheet, he now sits with six shutouts, a 0.931 save percentage, and a 0.23 GAA for the season.
- With two assists tonight, Raineri moves into a tie for eighth place all-time in the category with 12 in his career. He also recorded his fifth career game-winning assist, matching six other former Mountain Lion players for the most in team history.
- UCCS continued to receive votes in the United Soccer Coaches Week 3 National Rankings Poll after earning a pair of shutout wins against Adams State and Colorado Christian last week. The Mountain Lions also moved up one spot in the USC South Central Regional Rankings to No. 7 in the region.
UP NEXT:
- The Mountain Lions will continue conference play on Sunday, Sept. 25, as they travel to Grand Junction, Colo., to match up against Colorado Mesa University. Kickoff against the Mavericks is slated for 12:30 p.m. from Community Hospital Unity Field.
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.
