Roadrunners steal 'Wolves' thunder in Pueblo
by Donald Smith
The Metropolitan
The men's soccer team has put itself in position to secure a playoff spot. The Roadrunners find themselves just one game ahead of CU-Colorado Springs and one game behind conference leading Fort Lewis after picking up all 15 points in their last three matches.
Metro (13-3-1, 7-2-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) faced Montana State-Billings Oct. 18 to closeout the squad's nine-game home stand. The 'Runners, who took a two-game win streak into the match, had their sights set on finishing the home stretch strong.
Early in the contest, sophomore forward Phillip Owen scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season just 15 minutes into the first half off a sophomore midfielder Preston Borrego pass. The two teams would battle to no avail and the 'Runners took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Metro's offensive attack continued after the break as sophomore forward Antonio Porras scored his tenth of the season off a junior midfielder Ricky Fetherston assist six minutes into the second half.
"Aldo (Alcaraz-Reza) had the ball at the top of the 18 (yard line, and) just laid it back to me and then I shot it and it went in," said junior forward Nagui Sabbagh about his fifth goal of the season, which Fetherston and junior midfielder Alcaraz-Reza assisted on in the 82nd minute.
Afterward, the Roadrunners would just run out the clock on their way to a 3-0 victory over the Yellowjackets.
"We definitely needed that game to continue our streak," said Sabbagh about the win.
The 'Runners would go from taking the sting out of the Yellowjackets to taming the Mountain Lions when Metro took on CU-Colorado Springs Oct. 22. In Metro's first game away from Auraria Field in over a month, the Roadrunners made themselves feel right at home as the team out shot the Lions 25-7 and had more corner kick opportunities (5-2) than their opponent in the game. In fact, the only categories in which the Lions led Metro was saves (10-1) and fouls (15-14).
Both Metro and CU-Springs worked hard against each other and fought to a scoreless half. After the break, the game went from a scoreless match to a soccer speed-round. The accelerated half started in the 58th minute when Lions' forward Misha Thomas scored the contest's first goal from Eric Foulk. Seven seconds later, Sabbagh scored off a Borrego assist to tie the game.
In the 75th minute, Borrego got another assist when he set up Alcaraz-Reza to give the 'Runners a 2-1 lead, which only remained for a little more than a minute when Owen ended the lightning round as he scored off an assist from defensive back Danny Bills and midfielder Andrew Donnelly. Metro went on to win 3-1.
"In the first half, we weren't playing too well, but we had our opportunities and we weren't putting them away. In the second half... they got one chance and they got it in, and then after that, we just started going and putting goals away ... our forwards started finishing and we were fine," said Donnelly.
The Roadrunners would take their seven-game unbeaten streak to CSU-Pueblo as they faced the 'Wolves at their house on Sunday.
Metro came into the game with offensive momentum and showed it early. Fetherston took a Porras pass and rocketed a shot from 14 yards out into the back of the Wolves' net to give his team a 1-0 lead tallying the only goal of the first half.
"It felt great," said Fetherston about his laser from over ten yards out. "Tony played the ball (to me); I cut it back and put (the shot in on the) near post."
The Roadrunners retained their one goal lead late into the second half, when Metro's strikers stole the Wolves thunder. Owen scored an insurance goal just 80 minutes after their first strike off a Porras assist.
The 'Runners were glad they had insurance just five minutes later when CSU-Pueblo forward Tommy Lauhoff took a Ryan Creager pass and put it behind Metro 'keeper David McReavy making the score 2-1.
Although the 'Wolves would cut the lead in half, they would score too little too late into the half as Metro hung on to win the match 2-1.
The 'Runners now play their final two regular season matches at home with arch rival Regis on Oct. 27 and end the regular season against conference leading Fort Lewis on Oct. 29.
"We're pretty confident. We've (scored) really well these last three games and I think we're ready for postseason now," McReavy said. |
