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UCCS Athletics

WSOC vs CCU Preview

Women's Soccer Slated for Quaterfinal Match with Colorado Christian

11/7/2024 9:00:00 AM

By: Jake Ross, Assistant Sports Information Director
THIS WEEKEND'S MATCH UP
  • The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's soccer team looks to continue their regular season momentum into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championships after the Mountain Lions finished the season with victories in seven out of their final eight matches.
  • The Colorado Christian University Cougars begin the postseason unbeaten in their last five matches, but having their final two matches result in draws they are also winless since last Friday, November 1st. 
GAME COVERAGE TICKETS
  • Ticket prices are set at $15 for adults, $10 for Kids ages 6-17, Seniors over the age of 65 and Military members. Tickets can be purchased online here.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE NETWORK
  • Fans unable to attend in-person will be able to watch the match on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Network. There is a direct link to the broadcast here, and can also be accessed by clicking the watch button on the women's soccer schedule page. The broadcast will be available by pay per view.
2024 REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW
  • The Mountain Lions had a slow start to the year going 2-2-2 in conference play, but the struggles really began as the team embarked on the RMAC schedule going 0-4 to begin the conference season.
  • The tides would finally turn for the Mountain Lions, as they picked up an impressive 1-0 road victory at Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado. A victory that would launch UCCS on a three-game winning streak, picking up wins at home against Black Hills State and Regis at home the following weekend.
  • A loss on the road at #22 Colorado Mesa ended the ride for the Mountain Lions, but they jumped right back on the horse the same weekend getting a 2-1 win at Westminster before returning to Colorado to win their last three matches vs New Mexico Highlands (6-0), at Adams State (2-0), and vs CSU Pueblo (5-1).
RMAC BRACKET
  • The RMAC Tournament Field consists of eight total teams with the number one seed receiving a bye to the semi-final round. Seeds two through six begin play in the quarterfinal section of the bracket, with teams seeded seventh and eighth facing off against one another in an opening play-in round two days prior to the quarterfinal matches with the winner advancing to play the second seed.
  • Ahead of UCCS in the bracket is #1 nationally ranked Colorado School of Mines who completed an unbeaten regular season going 11-0-1 in conference play and 17-0-1 overall to earn the top seed and an automatic spot in the RMAC Semifinal. The second seed was claimed by #22 nationally ranked Colorado Mesa who finished 11-1 in conference play, losing only to Colorado School of Mines. The final team ahead of UCCS is MSU Denver who is receiving votes nationally and carries an 8-2-2 conference into the tournament.
  • UCCS' opponent Colorado Christian earned the fifth seed behind a 5-4-3 conference record, followed by sixth seeded Westminster who also ended the year with a 5-4-3 record but lost the tiebreaker of goal differential to CCU.
  • The final two seeds were claimed by Fort Lewis, who too finished 5-4-3, but lost tiebreakers to both CCU and Westminster due to losing the head-to-head matchup with the Cougars and having a worse goal differential than the Griffins. FLC will face off with eighth seeded Regis who wrapped up conference play with a 5-5-2 record, with the Skyhawks and Rangers meeting on Friday for the play-in match.
RMAC LEADERS
  • The Mountain Lions scored the second most goals as a team in the regular season with 34, they trailed just Colorado School of Mines who netted an impressive 52 tallies. The scoring effort was a cooperative one, with eleven different attackers netting goals for UCCS in the regular season. UCCS was led by Emily Aguilar in scoring with her seven goals, a mark which was fourth most in the league. Both Fie Steenberg and Taylynn Levi also rank among the best in the league as they both sit tied for 11th most with 5 goals.
  • Fie Steenberg put her stamp on 2024 offensively, appearing in the top 15 of every major scoring category in the conference. The Danish senior was tied 11th in goals with 5, tied 8th in assists with 4, tied 8th in game winning goals with 2, and tied 7th in points with 14.
  • In her first season in between the sticks for UCCS, freshman Alexa Malaspina has been solid for the Mountain Lions, securing six clean sheets on the year for the black and gold. Her six shutouts rank fifth among the RMAC's 13 starting keepers.
ALL-TIME SERIES
  • UCCS and CCU have met twenty-two times in the history of the two programs, including once already this season which saw CCU come from behind to beat the Mountain Lions 2-1 on their home field back on October 3rd.
  • Prior to the October win, UCCS had gone unbeaten in their previous seventeen matches vs CCU dating back to 2010, including six straight wins dating back to 2017.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
  • Colorado Christian displayed a mixed bag of results across their regular season, finishing 5-4-3 in the RMAC and 6-7-4 overall including their non-conference contests.
  • The Cougars come in unbeaten in their last five games, including a three-game win streak with road victories over Adams State (3-1), New Mexico Highlands (3-0), and Fort Lewis (2-0). The Cougars followed that with draws in their last two matches, matching both Western Colorado and MSU Denver with 1-1 finals.
  • The Cougars offense is led by junior defender Justin Moreau, who owns five goals and three assists for a 13-point total for CCU. One of Moreau's five strikes came against UCCS at the start of October.
  • In goal stands graduate transfer Alana Lopp for the Cougars, who has had a good season tending the net in Lakewood. Lopp had 69 saves on her season which is a solid mark, but her .758 save percentage and 22 goals allowed leaves room for concern for the CCU bench bosses.
UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH J. B. BELZER
  • Head coach J.B. Belzer is in his fifth season as the UCCS skipper, holding a 65-20-9 record in his time in the Springs. Belzer is in his 29th season in the RMAC after spending 24 years at Regis University in Denver. Overall Belzer owns an impressive 381-167-46 record on his career between Regis and UCCS, owning the fifth most wins out of active Division II coaches. He has the 13th most wins in the history of Division II women's soccer.
  • During his time at UCCS Belzer has guided the Mountain Lions to a regular season title in three out of his five seasons, with one RMAC tournament championship in 2021.
  • The Mountain Lions have qualified for the NCAA national championship tournament in every season Belzer has coached at UCCS, with the lone exception being in 2020 when the championship tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 season was the most successful NCAA tournament run for the Mountain Lions under Belzer, who made it into the final eight teams before falling to Point Loma Nazarene 1-0 who would go on to win the National Championship.
WEATHER
  • The forecast for Sunday afternoon in Colorado Springs looks comfortable, with a daytime high of 55 degrees. A light wind is expected to be around 5-10 miles per hour, coming from the west.
UP NEXT
  • The winner of the RMAC Quarterfinal match will advance to take on top seed Colorado School of Mines on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in Golden, Colorado for a spot in the RMAC Tournament Championship Match.
 
 
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