HAYS, Kan. – Senior forward Alex Andersson led the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team to a 3-2 road victory over Fort Hays State University on Sunday afternoon as he recorded each of the squad's three goals for the second hat trick of his collegiate career.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 3, FHSU 2
Records: UCCS (2-0-0, 0-0-0 RMAC), FHSU (1-1-0, 0-0-0 MIAA)
Facility: FHSU Soccer Stadium | Hays, Kan.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions improve to 4-1 all-time against the Tigers and have won the last two matches in the series.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sunday afternoon's matchup with the Fort Hays State Tigers got off to a fast start with Andersson managing to find three early shot attempts in the first 11 minutes of action. Although his first two shots did not result in scoring plays, Andersson made the third shot count as he played the ball into the back of the net off a corner kick from Ben Ashfield to tally his first goal of the season and give UCCS a 1-0 lead at the 10:47 mark.
• The Mountain Lions continued their hot start to the match in the 21^st minute as graduate student Marvin Putu threaded a pass to Andersson, who fired the ball into the top portion of the frame past the outstretched arms of FHSU goalkeeper Ben Dixon to convert his second goal of the game and extend the UCCS lead to two goals.
• Despite surrendering the two early goals, the Tigers continued to battle and eventually managed to find an answer on the offensive end in the 37^th minute when Collin Hershberger found an opening in the bottom right corner of the net and slipped the ball past UCCS goalkeeper Soren Russell to cut the Mountain Lion's advantage in half, 2-1.
• UCCS found themselves with one more prime scoring opportunity before the end of the half as sophomore Rory Scott rattled off three consecutive shots on goal in the 43^rd minute of play, but the Tigers managed to stop the threat with three saves to keep the match at 2-1 heading into the halftime break.
• As the match continued into the second half, FHSU wasted little time finding an equalizer as Blake Arndt put a shot into the back of the nylon less than two minutes into the period to tie the game up at two goals apiece.
• The two teams would continue to battle for the ensuing 30 minutes without being able to find a deciding goal, but in the 79^th minute, it was Andersson once again who managed to break away from the defense for an unassisted goal that gave the Mountain Lions the late advantage. The Tigers would find it difficult to penetrate the UCCS defense across the final ten minutes of the match as the Mountain Lions came away with the 3-2 victory and closed out a 2-0 road trip to open the 2023 season.

STATS FROM THE GAME

• Andersson provided the bulk of the offense for the Mountain Lions on Sunday afternoon, scoring each of the team's three goals while also notching six shots and four shots on goal in 56 minutes of action.
• Putu continued to exhibit a keen eye on offense as he recorded an assist for the second consecutive game to begin the season.
• Scott finished the match second on the team with four total shots (3 SOG), while Kolby Raineri and Nic Grotle each tabbed two shots apiece.
• As a team, the Mountain Lions outshot FHSU 18-7 and recorded ten shots on goal to just three for the Tigers.
• Russell logged the full 90 minutes in frame for the Mountain Lions, surrendering a pair of goals while grabbing one save on the afternoon.

BOX SCORE

• The three-goal performance from Andersson marks the second hat trick of his career and the 17^th overall in program history. The Helsingborg, Sweden, native also becomes just the fifth player in school history to record multiple hat tricks while at UCCS, joining Kevin Noleen, Torin Haskill, Matt Friesen, and current teammate Kolby Raineri.
• The Mountain Lions defeat Fort Hays State for the second consecutive season after securing a 2-0 victory last August over a Tigers team that was ranked No. 7 in the nation at the time.
• With two shots in today's match, Raineri moves into sole possession of fifth all-time in UCCS men's soccer history for the category with 160 in his career.

UP NEXT

• UCCS heads back out on the road next week as they are set to travel to the Lone Star State to take on St. Edward's University at 3 p.m. (MT) on Thursday, Sept. 7 before clashing with No. 9 nationally ranked St. Mary's University on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. (MT).

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 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics. 
  Read Full Article