No. 20 Men's Soccer off to flying start
by Donald Smith
The Metropolitan
Head Coach Ken Parsons of the Metro men's soccer team wanted his players to get more comfortable playing in their positions during the first two games of the season, but along with that he also got 12 goals and two victories. The Roadrunners began their season 2-0 with victories over Johnson and Wales and West Texas A&M.
 (Photo by Matt Jonas The Metropolitan)
Sophomore midfielder Preston Borrego holds off a Johnson and Wales defender in the 9-0 whipping Sept. 3. Borrego scored two goals in the season opener at Auraria field.
The No. 20 Metro men's soccer team witnessed forwards Antonio Porras (who managed a hat trick, scoring in the 3rd, 12th and 54th minutes) and Phillip Owen (who scored in the 8th and 21st minutes) along with midfielder Preston Borrego (who scored in the 14th and 52nd minutes) having some serious fun with Johnson and Wales last Wednesday as they combined to score seven of the team's nine goals in their opening- day rout.
Porras, who scored his first hat trick of the season, had the first and second-to-last goal of the contest. Midfielder Aldo Alcaraz-Raza also had a hat trick, but only in the assist column, assisting on Porras' first goal and scoring the last goal of the match in the wake of their 9-0 beating of the Johnson and Wales Wildcats.
After their victory over the Wildcats, the Roadrunner men were met by two opposing forces in Texas: first, a sweeping wind that blew against the Roadrunners in the first half and for Metro in the second half of play; and second, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes. Metro faced a team that brought high pressure during the first half, forcing turnovers early on in the contest, which lead to the Buffaloes outshooting Metro 8-4 in the first 45 minutes of play. The Roadrunners also conceded the game's first tally in the 31st minute to Buffalo forward Josh Fender, who scored off a cross from defenseman Jessie Purvis.
The Roadrunners would continue to face the West Texas pressure throughout the first half and withstand it long enough to use one of their four first-half shots to go into the break tied as Porras took a cross from midfielder David Gordon and put it in goal right before half-time.
"I think that the West Texas game overall showed us that we have to play well all the time. We can't play well in stretches; we have to do things right and sometimes we have to change up our tactics sometimes to get a result-especially on the road," said coach Parson about the win at West Texas A&M.
In the second half, Metro made the proper adjustments and turned the tables on the Buffaloes, which lead to the Roadrunners owning the shot count 8-4.
"In the second half, they were just tired. They had been running all over the field trying to high pressure us (into turning the ball over) the whole first half, and they couldn't handle it and we knew they couldn't handle it. We were able to control the ball and we slowed the game down and they couldn't hang with us then," said goaltender David McReavy about the team's turnaround in the second half.
First, Metro would break the rhythm of the Buffaloes' defense. Then, in the 55th minute, Porras struck again off another cross-this time from defenseman Grant Piernot-to give Metro a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
The Roadrunners also received a gift from West Texas A&M later in the game when defensemen Kenneth Christensen was sent off with his second yellow card in the 86th minute. A little over three minutes later, a third goal from Nagui Sabbagh, who took advantage of the withered defense, scored an insurance goal off a through-ball from Borrego.
"It's a very tough place to win ... and to come out with 3-1 win, I think is good for our confidence. And the fact that we showed we could win on the road in difficult circumstances ... that's gonna be an important part in our next four games because we'll be on the road ... " Parsons said.
The No. 20 Metro men's soccer team now plan to take their winning ways to Regis (9/8) and Fort Lewis (9/12) as they attempt to place an early stranglehold on conference and regional standings.
Alcaraz-Raza said the reason this team has been able to pull it together and win is because: "Everybody's working hard. There's no stars on this team; everybody's just working hard and doing their job." |
