Battle of unbeaten in NCAA quarterfinals
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu
The Metro women's soccer team defeated Regis University last Sunday to win the Midwest Regional championship. The Roadrunners return to the Elite Eight for the second time in as many seasons.
Metro will attempt to defend its national Division II title against the second-best team in the nation. The Roadrunners will take on Seattle Pacific University at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Interbay Stadium in Seattle. Both Metro (23-0-0) and the Falcons (19-0-3) come into the game undefeated.
Photo by William Moore moorwill@mscd.edu
Roadrunners midfielder Vanessa Mais celebrates with her teammates after scoring a goal against Incarnate Word in the first round of the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament. Metro won the game 2-0.
Seattle Pacific lost in the second round of the NCAA championship tournament to Seattle University. The latter then lost to the Roadrunners, who hosted last year's tournament at Auraria Field. The tournament quarterfinals rotate among the top-seeded teams in specific regions each year.
The Roadrunners' road trip comes amid a 46-game winning streak. Metro has a strong advantage as far as experience goes, returning 12 players from last year's championship team.
"Everybody's really excited to be here, but calm at the same time because a lot (of players) have been there," freshman goalkeeper Rachel Zollner said. "There's a few freshmen, but most people are pretty experienced and have already done this."
On top of the 12 returning champions, the 'Runners have added key players such as freshman forward Anne Ormrod, freshman defensive back Nicole Cito, freshman midfielder Vanessa Mais, junior midfielder Kira Sharp and Zollner.
Ormrod (21) is second in Metro goals scored. Zollner led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in goals-against and is seventh in the nation with a .0491 goals-against percentage. Falcons' freshman goalkeeper Jennifer Burns is fourth overall (.0419 GA percent) in the nation.
"I think everyone's really excited to go and ready to play," Sharp said. The Roadrunners hope this is true of Sharp, whose aggressive midfield play Sunday left her limping off the field with four minutes remaining in the game.
Senior defensive stand-out Stephanie Prouty is confident in her team and excited to return to her home state of Washington.
"I think this week we will have a good week of training and we will be set for Seattle," Prouty said.
Head coach Danny Sanchez has experienced the Elite Eight three years in a row and hopes to repeat last season's success.
"We're excited to take one more step," Sanchez said. "That's all it is at this point ... just a one-game season on Saturday."