METRO SCORES Womens Soccer Oct. 1 at Lakewood, Colo. 1 2 Metro 5 2- 7 Final CChrist 0 0- 0 Final Goals: 1, Metro, Guante, 1:22. 2, Metro, Almaraz, 15:40. 3, Metro, Leichliter, 26:02. 4, Metro, Almaraz, 37:20. 5, Metro, Kilbey, 43:06. 6, Metro, Clarke, 52:37. 7, Metro, Quillen, 81:07. Saves: Metro, Allen, 3. CChrist., Hart, 8. Mens Soccer Oct. 1 Home 1 2 CChrist. 0 2- 2 Final Metro 3 2- 5 Final Goals: 1, Metro, Grecu, 14:47. 2, Metro, Cousins, 26:15. 3, Metro, Grecu, 30:15. 4, Metro, Grecu, 50:46. 5, CChrist., Gunderson, 72:18. 6, Metro, Cousins, 76:35. 7, CChrist., Royor, 88:04. Saves: CChrist., Kurtz, 9. Metro, Butler, 0. Oct. 4 at Tahlequah, Okla. 1 2 Metro 2 0- 2 Final MWSU 0 4- 4 Final Goals: 1, Metro, Grecu, 15:10. 2, Metro, Grecu, 26:43. 3, MWSU, Chisholm, 48:45. 4, MWSU,Chishom, 69:50. 5, MWSU, Rodgers, 85:09. 6, MWSU, Krueger, 86:53. Saves: Metro, Butler, 4. MWSU, Stockton, 2. Oct. 6 at Tahlequah, Okla. 1 2 Metro 3 1- 4 Final NESU 0 0- 0 Final Goals: 1, Metro, Alcaraz-Reza, 11:02. 2, Metro, Cousins, 12:09. 3, Metro, Porras, 21:22 4, Metro, Grecu, 73:09. Saves: Metro, McReavy, 1 NESU, Sylvester, 7. Volleyball Oct. 3 at Las Vegas, New Mex. Metro 30 30 30 NMHU 19 18 19 Oct. 4 at Pueblo, Colo. Metro 30 30 30 CSUP 23 21 15 Oct. 5 at Colorado Springs, Colo. Metro 30 30 30 CUSprings 14 23 15

Metro’s women soccer team beat Colorado Christian 7-0 on Oct. 1 while improving its overall record to 10-0-1 so far this year.

Metro again gave up no goals making it 9 out of 11 teams they’ve faced that has not scored against them.

In the game the Roadrunners were able to stop any attack that the Colorado Christian Cougars threw at them.

“We have good leadership in the backfield that leads to few scoring chances (for the other team),” Sanchez said.

Metro started the scoring early with a goal by junior forward Ymara Guante, her third goal this season, and later added an assist on a goal scored by sophomore forward Amy Leichliter. Some new faces also scored for the Roadrunners: junior Adrianne Almaraz, who had two goals in the game, her first goals of the season.

The Roadrunners have been able to keep their opponents’ scoring to a minimum this year as goalkeeper Mandy Allen continued her shutout streak of 9 games. Metro’s team accomplishments have not been overlooked as the team is now ranked first in NCAA Division II polls. This is the first time in Metro’s history its women’s soccer team has been ranked number one.

Playing against Nebraska-Omaha was a huge challenge for the Roadrunners but Sanchez was okay with the game ending in a tie.

Nebraska-Omaha might have been a hard game for the Roadrunners, who were outshot 24-11. Leichliter said it was a tough game. “Because they were the No.1 team we wanted to beat them just as bad as they wanted to beat us,” Sanchez said.

Individually, the Roadrunners are also being recognized as goalkeeper Mandy Allen was announced as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
“Focus on the very next game and work for that one,” Leichliter said. “We are a hard -working team. We are strong everywhere and we work well together.”

Sanchez said he knows his team is playing well now, but the goal of the season is to get into the NCAA tournament and he hopes Metro could host one regional game at home. Sanchez gives a lot of credit to his players saying he has 20 players that haven’t missed a beat so far this season.

Leichliter said that they practice really hard for their next opponent and that she really wants the Roadrunners to get in the NCAA tournament go to the final four and win the whole thing.

Next up for the Roadrunners is a home game against the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls (4-6) on Friday at 1 p.m.

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After going on a three-game win streak that led to the Roadrunners going above .500 for the season as well as making them .500 in the RMAC, the Metro soccer team this weekend had two streaks snapped.

Its five game unbeaten streak and its four-game non-conference streak were broken when they lost to Midwestern State (Okla.).

The Roadrunners began this past week of games by defeating the Colorado Christian Cougars Oct. 1 5-2.

Similar to their game only a week prior, the Roadrunners came out and dominated the first half of the game, first by scoring a goal early from Alex Grecu, who had a hat-trick in the first half.

In the second half, Metro would allow the opposition to narrow the lead. This time CCU’s Jon Gunderson would take away the shutout opportunity from goalkeeper Eric Butler, but unlike the week before, the half would not belong to the Cougars as Metro’s Jeff Manson would score a goal in the 74th minute to place Metro in total control.

“I think our confidence level is pretty good and I think it’s gonna just keep getting higher,” Porras said.

They would take their momentum down to Oklahoma for two games, but were met by Midwestern State team that didn’t allow Metro’s winning streak to continue.

Though the ‘Runners get the first two goals of the game from Alex Grecu, Metro would see Midwestern’s Garnet Chrisholm score a pair of goals himself in the second half to tie the game at two.

The two teams remained deadlocked until the 85th minute when Scott Rogers would give his team the lead for good, scoring off of a cross from teammate Garnet Chrisholm to defeat Metro .

Finally, the Roadrunners would bounce back as they went into Northeastern State, scored the first goal, the last goal and the only four goals of the game while not allowing one themselves. In the first half, the Roadrunners would score three goals in 10 minutes.

The three consecutive goals started with Aldo Alcaraz’s shot from just inside the box, followed by Zack Cousins’ header from five yards out a minute later. Antonio Porras scored off of a penalty kick in the 21st minute. The second half would see the Metro team tally one more goal from Alex Grecu to bring their record back up to 8-4 for the season.
“Before I thought I was playing well I just wasn’t putting them away and now, the whole team’s been playing well,” Grecu said. “I haven’t been really doing a whole lot different, just putting them away.”

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The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is just over a third of the way over, and Metro State’s volleyball team is still trying to find themselves, says Head Coach Debbie Hendricks, but their quick tempo and confidence are guiding them.

The Roadrunners are not the tallest team in the Eastern Division; most players range from 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 11 inches. Since the team is not very tall, they must make up for it with their quick tempo and solid ball control, says Hendricks.

“Ideally…we’re looking for our tempo to be faster than the opposing block,” Hendricks said.

“Because we don’t have any really tall female athletes…that’s our game plan. That’s what we have to bring night-in and night-out is a good tempo.”

The team improves their confidence level by focusing on areas of struggle from the previous weekend.

They get a feel for what opponents they play the next week might play like by watching videos of them play. Hendricks said it is difficult to prepare for each team, but the important thing is that they put most of their focus on their side of the floor.

Senior Devon Herron, whom Hendricks refers to as the team’s “emotional leader,” says preparation is important to being confident. Herron has been on the team for a long time and has been through different situations.

“(They) look toward me for confidence because I’ve been through so many different experiences,” Herron says. “The biggest part of us staying confident is us being prepared. Preparation is what helps us feel confident when we go into a match.”

The volleyball team didn’t have much confidence and didn’t play well at Kearney, Hendricks said, but came back the next night against Fort Hays. Playing well consistently and staying steady from match to match is the team’s goal for the season and that, Hendricks says, “is how you begin to establish more confidence.”

“We need to stay really steady as far as our play goes, and our confidence effort-level,” Herron said.

Although the volleyball season is half way over and the team is a third of the way through the RMAC, Hendricks said the team still hasn’t found their identity as a whole.

                Metro  Opponent
Offense------------------------
Kills........... 1073     873
Errors..........  408     451
Attack Pct...... .246    .162
Kills/Gm........ 16.5    13.4
Ass./Gm......... 15.0    12.1
Aces............  111      77
Aces/Gm.........  1.7     1.2
Defense------------------------
Digs............  1105    990
Digs/Gm.........  17.0   15.2
Tot. Blocks..... 140.5  149.5

                 Tot.Pts. Rec.  Prvs.
1. UC-San Diego     860   14-2   2
2. Barry            797   13-2   4
3. Cal St.-SB       792   13-3   1
4. Western Wash.    741   14-1   5
5. Tampa            704   15-2   6
6. BYU-Hawai'i      689   10-2   3
7. Truman St.       646   18-2   8
8. North Florida    615   14-1   7
9. North Dakota St. 569   15-5   9
10. Metro           568   14-4  10

Hendricks sees this not as an impediment, but rather a drive to improve the areas hurting their performance.

“We’re still, in a lot of ways, trying to find ourselves, find consistent confidence,” Hendricks said. “We would like this weekend to come in and put three good nights of play, back to back to back…that’s where we’re going to gain that next step of confidence, knowing that we can play well three nights in a row.”

Herron says the overall personality of the team is just surfacing, that the team’s “total identity” still needs to be found. Herron sees this as a good thing, in that their personality lies in future performances.

“I think when teams find their identity too early they peak too early,” Herron said.
The Roadrunners won 3-0 all three games last weekend against Colorado State University at Pueblo Thunderwolves, New Mexico Highlands Cow Girls, and Colorado Springs Mountain Lions. The team is now 14-4 overall, and 8-1 in the RMAC.

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College sports are in dire straits with its integrity, or lack of it.

Collegiate athletes complain how they should get money in exchange for their play. Well they are; it’s called a college education. I compare this complaining to a child whining about not getting the toy they wanted.

How great of a deal is it to have a free or extremely cheap education just for playing sports? Quite a great deal if you ask me.

At most schools, the athletes are provided with food and shelter at little or no cost. Wow, I tell ya, these athletes have it tougher than a single mother with three children holding down two jobs while going to school.

The athletes shouldn’t get paid for their play because that would take away from the integrity of college sports. If money comes into play with the players, it creates factions within the team. Players would complain how they should get paid more than someone else.

Okay, so they shouldn’t get paid, and right now, they aren’t.

Or are they? Every so often, you hear about wrongdoings within the sports programs about the athletes receiving “improper benefits” from boosters. What do the coaches do about this? Either they authorize it, or they turn their cheeks.

Recently, I heard about the Auburn football program in the mid-1990’s and its scandals. Apparently recruits were receiving monetary bribes from boosters in return for them attending Auburn University. Former head coach Terry Bowden was told by the school’s administration to do nothing except smile and say thank you for choosing Auburn.

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., has quite possibly some of the worst sports teams in America, and yet its athletics program is considered the cleanest in college sports. Give me an honest loser, and I’ll give you an outstanding citizen. College athletics should be about getting your education, pushing yourself to excel, having fun, and becoming a better person.

It is the coach’s responsibility to make sure the athlete grows as an individual. It seems as though the college coach is losing control of its players: not performance wise, but integrity wise. Coaches should be role models, not sports agents.

Reinstating integrity to college sports starts with the school administrators and the athletic directors, but the responsibility rests mostly on the shoulders of the coach to make sure their athletes are doing the right things in life. College athletics are more than just sports.

It’s a privilege.

Until universities make sure money is absolutely out of college sports, NCAA athletics will be about as honest as Rush Limbaugh saying he loves and respects Grambling University football (figure out that one for yourself). The privilege will be a mere job.

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