WICHITA, Kan. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team put together an impressive season-opening effort on Friday evening at Wilkins Field as they kicked off the 2023 campaign with a 2-0 shutout victory over Newman University.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 2, NU 0
Records: UCCS (1-0-0, 0-0-0 RMAC), NU (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MIAA)
Facility: Wilkins Field | Wichita, Kan.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions improve to 5-2 all-time against the Jets and have won four of the last five contests in the matchup dating back to the 2008 season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After ten quiet minutes to begin the season-opening match, the Mountain Lions found themselves in position to take the first shot attempt of the game in the 12^th minute as sophomore defender Matteo Moreno Madrid fired the ball off the right woodwork. The Jets defense would quickly corral the ball to keep the match scoreless and subsequently flipped the field as their offense went on to take a trio of off-target shots before the 16-minute mark.
• The Mountain Lions would have another scoring opportunity thwarted in the 25^th minute when senior Alex Andersson laid a shot into the top right corner of the frame that was saved by Newman goalkeeper Juan Carlos Cordova.
• Just three minutes later in the 28^th minute, the fortunes changed for UCCS as they capitalized on back-to-back corner kicks with sophomore Rory Scott finding the net for the Mountain Lion's first goal of the game off of an assist from graduate student Marvin Putu. 
• The UCCS offense went back to work shortly after the start of the second half as Scott and junior Bogdan Vedernikov linked up with senior Cole Van Holland, who put the ball in the back of the nylon to give the Mountain Lions a 2-0 lead in the 52^nd minute.
• Now trailing by two goals, Newman ramped up their offensive efforts as they notched nine total shots and two shots on goal across the final 30+ minutes of the match, but first-year Mountain Lion goalkeeper Soren Russell managed to keep the Jets out of the net to secure a 2-0 clean sheet victory.

STATS FROM THE GAME

• The Jets outpaced the Mountain Lions in total shots (13-7), but UCCS led the way with four shots on goal to just two for Newman.
• Scott totaled three points in the match off one goal and one assist, which mark the first points of his career. Van Holland also found the net for the Mountain Lion's second goal of the game, while Putu and Vedernikov both notched their first assists of the season.
• Andersson and Scott paced UCCS with two shots apiece, with Van Holland, Moreno Madrid, and Nic Grotle each tabbed one shot.
• Russell had a strong Mountain Lion debut in frame as he played the full 90 minutes and notched his first clean sheet of the season while also nabbing two saves.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With the win, the Mountain Lions extend their unbeaten streak on opening day to three games after defeating Newman by a score of 3-2 to begin the 2021 season and playing to a scoreless draw against Rockhurst University at the start of the 2022 campaign.
• Seven student-athletes saw their first action in a Mountain Lion uniform on Friday evening, including Jackson Million, Cam Hughes, Jacob Fitzgerald, Soren Russell, Dani Barajas, Rocco Gamblin, and Peter Chang.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will continue their season-opening road trip on Sunday, Sept. 3 as they travel to Hays, Kan. to match up with Fort Hays State University. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. (MT) from FHSU Soccer Stadium.

SOCIAL
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics. 
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