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UCCS MSOC RMAC SF Preview

PREVIEW | Men’s Soccer Travels to Durango For RMAC Semifinal Matchup Against No. 1 Seed Fort Lewis

11/3/2023 4:00:00 PM

By: Tyler Tvelia, Assistant Sports Information Director
THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP
  • Coming off a 2-1 victory over Westminster University in the conference quarterfinal round last night, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team will head to Durango, Colo. for an RMAC Semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed and No. 12 nationally ranked Fort Lewis College on Sunday, Nov. 5, at 5 p.m.
  • In the other quarterfinal matchup, No. 3 seed Colorado State University Pueblo earned a 1-0 victory over No. 6 seed Metropolitan State University Denver and will now make the trip to Grand Junction, Colo., where they will take on the tournament's No. 2 seed, Colorado Mesa University, at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5.
GAME COVERAGE TICKETS
  • All fans attending Dirks Field will be charged admission and are encouraged to purchase tickets online through the RMAC Ticketing site.
  • Ticket Prices:
    • Adults - $15.00
    • Seniors (Over 65) - $10.00
    • Children (10 and under) - $10.00
    • Under 5 – Free
    • RMAC Students (With ID) – Free
RMAC NETWORK
  • Fans unable to attend in-person will be able to purchase day passes on the RMAC Network for each day of tournament play, priced at $9.95 per day. To purchase the day pass, fans will navigate to www.rmacnetwork.com and will be directed to select the institution that they are supporting through their viewership. Once the payment submission is complete, fans will have access to any RMAC championship contest available for that specific sport. Day passes will expire within 24 hours of the purchase.
LAST TIME OUT
  • In the RMAC Quarterfinal matchup against Westminster that took place last night, the Mountain Lions overcame a difficult first half to secure a 2-1 comeback victory that sent them soaring into the conference semifinal round.
  • The first half of Thursday evening's playoff matchup saw the Griffins dominate possession of the ball as they outshot the Mountain Lions 7-3 in the opening 45 minutes and had multiple strong opportunities to score at the net. Fortunately for the Mountain Lions, Westminster only managed to convert on one of those opportunities, which kept the match at 1-0 in favor of the Griffins heading into the halftime break.
  • UCCS came out of the locker room with a bevy of lineup changes, and it quickly paid off as the Mountain Lions were able to find an equalizer less than four minutes into the period with Matteo Moreno Madrid assisting on a beautiful right-footed goal by Nic Grotle. The momentum continued for the Mountain Lions in the 55th minute as Kolby Raineri fed a deep pass to Peter Chang, who found enough space in the defense to fire a strike into the back of the net and give UCCS a 2-1 advantage.
  • The Griffins continued to battle for an equalizer down the stretch as they managed to get five shot attempts off, including three on-target shots, in the final 35 minutes of action, but goalkeeper Soren Russell and the rest of the UCCS defensive unit held tight to secure the quarterfinal victory.
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
  • In the second edition of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Regional Rankings that were released on Wednesday, Nov. 1, the UCCS Men's Soccer team earned a No. 11 ranking within Super Region 4.
  • The top ten teams from each of the four super regions across the country will qualify for the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament. The South Central region, which includes the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the Lone Star Conference (LSC), is combined with the West region that includes teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), and the Pacific West Conference to make up Super Region 4.
  • The third and final set of regional rankings will be released by the NCAA next Wednesday, Nov. 8, before the field of 40 teams for the 2023 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship is set to be announced on Monday, Nov. 13 with the official NCAA Selection Show being live streamed on the NCAA website at 5 p.m. (MT).
RMAC LEADERS
  • As a team, the Mountain Lions rank among the league leaders in most offensive and defensive statistical categories. Defensively, UCCS has posted the third best goals against average in the conference at 1.05 while also limiting opponents to just 10.9 shots and 4.8 shots on goal per game. On the offensive end, the Mountain Lions lead the league with 292 total shots and 122 shots on goal while also ranking second in assists (33) and points (99) and tied for fourth in goals (33).
  • UCCS currently holds a plus-13 goal differential, which ranks fourth in the conference behind only Fort Lewis (+21), CSU Pueblo (+21), and Colorado Mesa (+15).
  • Individually, senior Alex Andersson ranks among the top-ten in the RMAC for most offensive categories as he currently ranks third in shots per game (3.22/gm) and sits tied for fourth in goals with eight, sixth in points with 18, and seventh in shots on goal with 20.
  • Kolby Raineri also ranks as one of the top players in the conference as he sits among the top five in the league for total shots (50), shots on goal (26), and assists (7) while ranking seventh in the RMAC with 17 points.  
  • Graduate student Marvin Putu has also continued to have a strong nose for finding goal-scorers as he has posted seven assists, which ranks tied for the third-most in the conference.
  • Between the sticks, first-year Mountain Lion Soren Russell has established himself as one of the top-tier goalkeepers in the conference as he has posted the third-lowest GAA in the league at 1.09 across 1,575 minutes played. Russell has notched the second-best save percentage in the RMAC at .779 while grabbing the third-most saves with 67. In addition, he has completed five clean sheet performances during the regular season, which ranks tied for the third-most in the league.
RMAC AWARDS
  • Throughout the 2023 season, two UCCS men's soccer student-athletes combined to bring in a total of four weekly conference awards, with sophomore Soren Russell earning a trio of RMAC Goalkeeper of the Week honors (9/5, 9/12, 10/31) and Kolby Raineri picking up RMAC Offensive Player of the Week accolades on Oct. 17.
  • The RMAC announced their All-RMAC Teams for the 2023 men's soccer season on Thursday morning, with Alex Andersson being named to the All-RMAC First Team and Marvin Putu, Kolby Raineri, and Lars Walczyk each being tabbed on the All-RMAC Second Team.
  • The conference will announce their 2023 RMAC All-Academic teams on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 12 p.m.
ALL-TIME SERIES
  • The Mountain Lions hold a 15-42-5 all-time record against the Skyhawks, however they have had more success in recent years with an 8-3-1 record dating back to the start of the 2014 season.
  • In the lone regular season matchup between the two teams on Oct. 12, UCCS handed the Skyhawks their lone loss of the conference season with a 3-2 victory on the road. UCCS jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half with Bogdan Vedernikov (31') and Kolby Raineri (42') scoring for the Mountain Lions.
  • Fort Lewis cut the UCCS lead in half at the 52-minute mark of the match with a goal from Tomas Duenes moving the score to 2-1. In the 77th minute, Fort Lewis had a golden opportunity to bring the game even as they were given a penalty kick opportunity, but the PK shot by Gabriel Legendre was saved by UCCS goalkeeper Soren Russell, keeping the one-goal advantage in favor of the Mountain Lions.
  • Less than five minutes later in the 82nd minute, Nic Grotle found the back of the net to extend the UCCS lead to 3-1 and effectively end the match. Fort Lewis would add one final goal down the stretch in the 87th minute, but the Mountain Lions ultimately held on for the 3-2 win.
SCOUTING FORT LEWIS
  • After a disappointing 2022 season that saw Fort Lewis miss the RMAC Tournament, the Skyhawks returned with a vengeance for the 2023 season as they went on to post a 10-3-4 overall record and were crowned the RMAC Men's Soccer Regular Season Champions with a 6-1-3 conference record.
  • The Skyhawks, who were recognized as the No. 12 ranked team in the nation in the Week 9 United Soccer Coaches National Poll and the No. 9 ranked team in Super Region 4 in the Week 2 edition of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Regional Rankings, were well represented in the conference's All-RMAC and major individual awards announcement on Thursday morning as David Oberholtzer was named the RMAC Coach of the Year while Anton Hjalmarsson was tabbed as the RMAC Player of the Year and RMAC Freshman of the Year. Hjallmarsson, Gabriel Legendre, and Loic Jean-Baptiste were each named to the All-RMAC First Team, while Tomas Duenes and Kaden Schufft earned All-RMAC Second Team honors.
  • Offensively, the Skyhawks led the conference in goal scoring with 43 total goals for an average of 2.53 per game. Fort Lewis also currently leads the league with 6.42 shots on goal per game and 7.24 points per game while sitting second in the conference with an average of 15.06 shots per game.
  • The FLC offense is led by a trio of outstanding forwards in Hjalmarsson, Legendre, and Duenes, who combined to record 27 goals and 16 assists for a total of 70 points. Hjalmarsson led the trio with 28 points off ten goals and eight assists, while Legendre and Duenes posted 21 points each. Hjalmarsson and Legendre rank second in the RMAC with ten goals apiece, while Duenes sits in a tie for seventh with seven goals.
  • On the defensive side, Fort Lewis posted a 1.29 GAA for the season while allowing opponents to take 11.8 shots and 4.65 shots on goal per game. Kaden Schufft and Jakob Larson were both mainstays on the Skyhawk defense as they each logged over 1,300 minutes of action during the regular season.
  • In frame, Lucas Martin started 16 games for the Skyhawks and tallied over 1,400 minutes of action, recording a 1.19 GAA and two clean sheets. On 188 shots faced, Martin has collected 54 saves and posted a .740 save percentage.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
  • Fifth-year player Kolby Raineri has continued to establish himself as one of the most decorated players in program history as he is now the all-time leader in program history for shots (208) and shots on goal (105) while also ranking top-five in the record book for points (76), goals (27), assists (22), games played (78), and minutes played (5,850).
  • Senior Alex Andersson has also made his mark on the UCCS men's soccer record book as he currently ranks tied for sixth all-time with 24 goals, eighth with 57 points, tied for eighth with 53 shots on goal, and ninth with 124 total shots.
  • Graduate student forward Marvin Putu has established himself as on of the most effective assist men in program history across just two seasons with the Mountain Lions as he sits tied for 6th all-time in the record book with 13 assists.
  • Goalkeeper Soren Russell has also made his way into the record book in just his first season at UCCS as he already ranks tied for tenth in program history with five shutouts and sits second all-time in program history with his 1.09 career GAA (min. 1,000 minutes).
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH LEWIS WILCOX
  • Head coach Lewis Wilcox is currently in his third season at the helm of the UCCS men's soccer program and has posted an exceptional 29-17-10 overall record. Under Wilcox, the Mountain Lions are making their second consecutive appearance in the RMAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed on the bracket in both 2022 and 2023.
  • During his first two seasons at the helm, Wilcox led the Mountain Lions to a 19-13-5 overall record and coached the team to their first appearance in the RMAC Tournament since the 2018 season. Under his guidance, the UCCS men's soccer program has earned 13 All-RMAC selections, including five on the first team, five on the second team, and three honorable mention selections. In addition, Wilcox's resume features a pair of RMAC major awards, including the 2021 RMAC Player of the Year in Alex Andersson and the 2022 Co-Freshman of the Year in Matteo Moreno Madrid.
  • The Mountain Lions have also been well-represented at the regional and national levels during his time at the head of the program, securing six D2CCA All-Region honors, two United Soccer Coaches All-Region accolades, and one D2CCA All-American (Alex Andersson – 2021 First Team).
  • UCCS men's soccer has also flourished academically with the leadership of Wilcox, securing three RMAC All-Academic First Team honors, four College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District accolades, and one CSC Academic All-America award (Kolby Raineri – 2022 Third Team).
WEATHER
  • The forecast for Sunday evening in Durango, Colo., is calling for near-perfect soccer weather with daytime temperatures in the upper-60s before falling off into the 30s and 40s as the sun goes down. 
UP NEXT
  • The winner of Sunday's semifinal matchup between the Mountain Lions and Skyhawks will advance to the RMAC Championship match, which will be played on Nov. 10, 11, or 12, against the winner of the semifinal matchup on the opposite side of the bracket featuring CSU Pueblo and Colorado Mesa.
 
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