Oklahoma: where the wins come sweepin'...
by Sam DeWitt
The Metropolitan
What do you get when you put the Roadrunners on a bus for 22 hours, round trip, and put a huge target on their back?
Hopefully, two wins against regional foes Central Oklahoma and Texas A&M Commerce, and a better shot at hosting the regional tournament in February.
Target practice is nothing new to the Metro women's soccer team, having been on top of the Midwest Region for most of this season. What's new is taking on other top teams at their home fields instead of the friendly confines of the nest at Auraria Field. Far away from home is an understatement for the last weekend of women's soccer, as the team had to travel 11 hours by bus, each way, to and from Edmond, Okla.
After the trek to Edmond, a small town outside of Oklahoma City, the Roadrunners had to prove their mettle Friday, taking an early lead and holding on to beat Central Oklahoma 2-1 on the strength of two goals from senior midfielder Ymara Guante.
The first came 15 minutes into the game and was taken in by Guante with an assist credited to senior back Meisha Pyke.
The second came just a few minutes later, at 27:20, when Guante was able to fool UCO keeper Carly Fischer and put another in the back of the net, thanks to a pass from senior mid Adrienne Almaraz.
The Bronchos (yes, that's spelled correctly. No, we don't understand it, either) scored in the second half at 51:49, but they could not get another goal past Metro keeper Sarah Leonhard to tie it up.
"Ymara had those two great goals on Friday," said Roadrunners head coach Danny Sanchez. "Both passes from Meisha (Pyke) and Adrienne (Almaraz) were solid, and Ymara's finishing was excellent."
It wasn't just offense that got the job done, though.
"Our defense was huge this weekend," said sophomore midfielder Brooke Kiefer. "The pressure was escalating on this trip, just because we knew we needed these two wins against two very good teams. Our D helped to take a lot of that pressure off."
The second game was played against Texas A&M Commerce, another regional opponent ranked 3rd in the Midwest region. Perhaps more important than the match against UCO (especially if Metro's travel plans don't involve Commerce, Texas in November), a loss to Commerce would be detrimental to the Roadrunners' chances of hosting the regional tournament, as RMAC Rival Regis is only one game behind Metro in the standings.
But this is not a team that lets fear enter into the equation.
Metro didn't let much time go by in the first half before scoring the only goal of the game, a great shot by senior forward Amy Leichliter from an assist by Guante at 4:40 that found the corner of the goal. Thanks to some solid play by the defensive corps of Metro and the timely, solid goaltending by Leonhard (four saves), this win for the Roadrunners was one of the biggest of the season.
"Sarah (Leonhard) did a great job in net, especially considering the conditions," said Sanchez. "It was spitting rain, there was a lot of standing water on the field, and in those sloppy conditions, Sarah did a very solid job for us."
Sanchez stops short of calling them the two biggest results of the year, but did admit that "it never hurts" to get some head to head wins within the region, and is happy to be home at Auraria Field for the next four matches, all against RMAC foes. "We have the best field," he said, "and we always play well here. So it's good to be home."
The 'Runners take on the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls next at Auraria, Friday at 1 p.m., and host the Adams State Grizzlies on Sunday at 12 p.m. As always, you can stay current on all the happenings with Metro State Soccer at www.mscd.edu/~runners .
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