A 'sweet' victory

By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Last Sunday was a sweet day for the Metro women's soccer team. The Roadrunners won a sweet thing called the Sweet 16 off a super-sweet shot by junior forward Kylee Hanavan.

With the NCAA Division II regional win, the 'Runners are running to compete with the elite in the tournament quarterfinals Saturday, Nov. 19 in Seattle.

The Roadrunners beat the University of Incarnate Word by a 2-0 margin on Friday, while Regis University advanced on penalty kicks against the University of Central Oklahoma to set up the fourth match-up of the season between Metro and the Rangers. Regis came out on the sour end of a 1-0 loss to finish the season 18-5-1.

"We knew it wasn't going to be like last Saturday," Metro head coach Danny Sanchez said, referring to the 'Runners' 4-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship win. "We knew it would be a battle. We knew it would be a one-goal game, and I was really pleased with how we gutted out the win today."

Regis certainly gave the 'Runners a gut check in a very physical and defensive game that saw Metro finish the day with a season-low 10 shots on goal. Despite the air's chill and Metro fans' even chillier heckling, the Rangers held the Roadrunners to only six first-half shots on goal.

Hanavan needed only one.

After taking a pass down the line from junior midfielder Kira Sharp, Hanavan managed to split two defenders and drive across to the right side of the field past two more Ranger defenders.

Hanavan then planted her left foot and bent a shot just over the head of Regis goalkeeper Joanna Humphreys and into the left side of the net.

"You just take every chance you get and you just have to shoot as much as you can," Hanavan said.

Hanavan had two assists in Friday's game and finished the weekend with 30 goals and 71 points on the season so far. The latter statistic edges Metro's previous record of 69 points, which Hanavan set as a sophomore in 2004.

The Rangers out-shot the 'Runners 5-4 in the second half and fired a dart on goal with just six minutes left in the game. But freshman goalkeeper Rachel Zollner dove for and caught the shot for the game-winning save.

"I was just happy to make the save," Zollner said. "I couldn't really see (the shot) so I just had to make a reaction save on it."

"I was pretty sure we were going to come away with the shutout," Zollner added.

Hanavan was in on both goals in Friday's game. First, Hanavan set up a header to freshman Vanessa Mais for Metro's winning goal in the 30th minute. Hanavan then hit senior forward Amy Leichliter with a pass that Leichliter dumped to senior midfielder Jamie McGann. McGann buried the breakaway pass to seal the win.

"They are our rivals and always have been and they are a good team," Leichliter said. "They're competitive and we're competitive, so it's a battle every time."

Leichliter and six other seniors played their last game at Auraria Field, though Leichliter is the only senior to have started every game played at Auraria over the past four years.

"It's so sad because I'll never be able to play on this field again, but we got the win out of it and that's positive," Leichliter said.

Metro will head to the West Coast where they take on undefeated Seattle Pacific on Saturday in Elite Eight action.