Colorado Springs, Colo. – Two penalty kicks and a clean sheet propel the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Colorado Christian University on Thursday night.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: UCCS 2, CCU 0
Records: UCCS (9-0-2, 2-0-1 RMAC), CCU (3-2-6, 1-1-1 RMAC)
Facility: Mountain Lion Stadium | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions improve to 49-6-5 all-time against the Cougars.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Mountain Lions struggled offensively for the first 30 minutes on the pitch until a foul drawn by Lars Walczyk led to a penalty kick taken by senior midfielder Dani Barajas who rebounded his own shot off the PK and sent the ball into the back of the nylon for the first goal of the match.
- While failing to convert any of their additional 15 shots in the first half, UCCS still found a way to battle on the defensive side as they limited CCU to only two shots with none being on goal.
- Much like the first half, the beginning of the second featured both sides failing to convert any of their shots with the closest coming in the 54th minute by UCCS defender Adin Schwenke from approximately 30 yards out that needed a diving save by Jailon Gillespie of the Cougars to keep the score at 1-0.
- In the 82nd minute, the Mountain Lions added to their score via a penalty kick by junior forward Miles Seminario into the right side of the goal after Walczyk was fouled for a second time.
- Both teams showcased their aggressiveness in the final 20 minutes of game action as each side drew two yellow cards with three coming in the final 10 minutes. Despite the added tension, UCCS was able to hold CCU to a shutout giving sophomore goalkeeper Danny Fischer his first clean sheet as a Mountain Lion.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- UCCS led the Cougars in total shots (27-12), shots on goal (7-2), and corner kicks (8-2).
- Fischer recorded three saves for the Mountain Lions in his first start of the season.
- The Mountain Lions had 12 players record a shot on Thursday night as Schwenke led the team in shots on goal with three and Barajas was second with two.
- Fischer played the full 90 minutes for UCCS, resulting in a clean sheet for his first of the season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Thursday night's victory marks the first for UCCS against CCU since Sept. 18, 2022.
- With tonight's win, the Mountain Lions extend their unbeaten streak to 11 games. The longest such streak for UCCS is 12 which occurred during the 2022 season.
- UCCS has now recorded a clean sheet in three consecutive games. The last time the Mountain Lions had a similar streak was from Sept. 9th through Sept. 23rd of the 2022 season.
- The Mountain Lions entered the day leading NCAA Division II with seven penalty kick attempts and added two more tonight, bringing their season total to nine.
- Barajas is now tied for the RMAC lead in goals with six after tonight's matchup while Seminario sits at fifth with his four goals on the season.
- With their clean sheet tonight, the Mountain Lions lowered their team GAA to an RMAC leading 0.64 as they have allowed just seven goals in 11 games.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will take a week off before returning to the pitch on Thursday, Oct. 17 for a matchup against number 14 nationally ranked Fort Lewis College. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Mountain Lion Stadium.
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.
