'Runners upset No. 9 UIW
by Donald Smith
The Metropolitan
Metro midfielder Phillip Owen settles the ball during the Roadrunners 4-0 victory over St. Edwards University on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at Auraria Field. Owen scored the second goal in the game.
The Metro State men's soccer team took on a trifecta of games this past week as they faced the St. Edwards Hilltoppers last Wednesday, the Northeastern State (Okla.) Redmen on Friday and concluded against the Incarnate Word Crusaders on Tuesday, ending up winning two of their three matches.
Before their big test with the Crusaders on Tuesday, the Roadrunners (8-3, 4-2 RMAC) defeated St. Edwards (1-7-1, 1-6 SWC) 4-0 and followed it by a heartbreaking loss to Northeastern State (9-2, 4-2 LSC) last Friday, 3-2 in overtime.
Going into the game, the Crusaders (9-2-1, 6-0-1 SWC) had just fallen from the land of the undefeated, losing to Fort Lewis 2-0 only two days prior. Thus, both teams came into the game looking to avoid a two-game losing streak.
"I felt pretty confident for this game, believe it or not," said head coach Ken Parsons. "You know, when you're playing the No. (9) ranked team in the nation, as a coach you go into thing a little bit nervous. I came into this game pretty confident because of the fact that there have been a couple of situations where we've had our backs against the wall and we've always responded," Parsons said about Tuesday's game against the Crusaders. He concluded by saying the team plays better with its back against the wall, which it seemed to be doing going into the Incarnate Word match.
Metro came into the game needing a win. The 'Runners lost both a national ranking and some ground in the regional spotlight and a win would once again place them right back into both of them.
The Roadrunners came into the game focused, applying pressure on the Crusaders defense early. Metro put a few balls on net early, but Incarnate Word wasn't going to go down without a fight. The Crusaders returned the pressure midway through the first half of play.
The turning point of the game came in the 28th minute of play, when sophomore forward Phillip Owen was fouled by goalkeeper Sean Campbell. Both benches were in an uproar over the play and after much discussion, the 'Runners were awarded a penalty kick. Seconds after the call, Crusader forward Lubomir Bagdanov stormed toward sideline official Brad Condo disputing the call in disgust.
"I saw the goalie running at me and trying to get a touch on the ball; next thing I know, I got kicked in the chest and ... in the leg and I was on the ground not knowing where I was," Owen said about the controversial play.
On the penalty kick, Antonio Porras stepped up to the penalty spot, stepped into the ball well and stepped away with a goal as the Roadrunners took a 1-0 lead into the break.
In the second half, emotions were high and so was the foul count as 20 of the game's 31 fouls were called in the second stanza of play. Though the officials tried to grasp control of the game in the second half, both teams were at wit's end with each other and battled tooth and nail for every loose ball on every play.
Though the teams would continue to go back and forth at each other, Metro held on to win the game 1-0.
The Roadrunners now prepare to face Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) at 1 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 9 at Auraria Field. |
