PUEBLO, Colo. – The No. 3 nationally ranked and No. 4 seeded University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team made a late push on Wednesday evening in Pueblo, Colo., but ultimately fell by a score of 2-1 at the hands of No. 15 nationally ranked and No. 1 seed Colorado State University Pueblo.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: (4) UCCS 1, (1) CSUP 2
Records: UCCS (14-2-4, 6-1-3 RMAC), CSUP (13-3-3, 7-1-2 RMAC)
Facility: CSUP Art & Lorraine Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium | Pueblo, Colo.
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions move to 36-27-7 in the all-time series against the ThunderWolves and are 1-1-1 in three matchups this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Wednesday evening's RMAC Semifinal matchup started off with CSU Pueblo grabbing some early momentum as Jose Bustamante and Tobi Osifodunrin connected on successive passes to midfielder Caio Oliveira, who pushed the ball past UCCS goalkeeper Soren Russell to give the ThunderWolves a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.
- After UCCS recorded their first two shots of the match in the 24th and 26th minutes, the ThunderWolves went back on the attack as a foul inside the penalty area by Mountain Lion defender Rory Scott gave CSU Pueblo a PK attempt in the 35th minute. Oliveira stepped up to the line and put the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to extend the CSU Pueblo advantage to 2-0.
- Trailing by two goals at the halftime break, head coach Lewis Wilcox made a flurry of lineup changes to begin the second period, and the fresh legs paid off as UCCS found four shot attempts in the opening ten minutes of the half.
- In the 69th minute, UCCS had one of their best looks at the net to that point in the match with Drew Sanchez playing a perfect ball into the box where Cole Venable came streaking in undefended to take a shot on frame. Just before Venable could reach the ball, he was contacted by Volkert in the box and the ball bounced out of play for a UCCS corner kick. On the corner kick opportunity, Eduardo Macias played a deep, high ball that wound up giving the Mountain Lions their first shot on goal of the match with Adin Schwenke getting a header on frame that was saved by Volkert.
- On the defensive end, UCCS held the ThunderWolves without a shot for the first 25 minutes of the second half but that changed in the 72nd minute when CSU Pueblo had about a two-and-a-half-minute spurt in which they placed four shots on goal, all of which being saved by Russell.
- As the Mountain Lions furiously worked their offense down the stretch to cut into their deficit, they finally found some luck in the 89th minute with Eduardo Macias playing a cross into the box that bounced off the body of a CSU Pueblo defender. Off the deflection, Miles Seminario collected the ball at his right foot and struck the ball into the bottom left of the frame to make it a 2-1 game with just over a minute left to play. After the ThunderWolves restarted play with the kickoff, UCCS had one final opportunity with freshman Sean Belzer finding some space on the left side of the pitch, but his cross attempt sailed high and out of play as CSU Pueblo finished off the 2-1 victory.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- CSU Pueblo held the advantage in total shots (14-10) and shots on goal (7-3), while both teams recorded five corner kicks. As a team, CSU Pueblo committed 18 fouls to just three for UCCS.
- Schwenke, Barajas, and Seminario paced the team with two shots apiece, while Nick Walker, Soulo Letsoalo, Sean Belzer, and Gael Hernandez each recorded one.
- Seminario scored his seventh goal of the season in the 89th minute, moving him into a tie for second on the team in the category with Walker.
- In goal, Russell played the full 90 minutes, surrendering a pair of goals while collecting five saves.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With two points today, Seminario moves into second on the team with 18 points on the season.
UP NEXT
- The final field of 40 teams for the 2024 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship will be announced on Monday, Nov. 18 with the official NCAA Selection Show being live streamed on the NCAA website at 4:30 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.
