Final minutes haunting
menâs soccer

By Nick Garner and Kyle Ringo
The Metropolitan

All that is left now for the Metro menâs soccer team are what-ifs, what-could-have-beens, and plenty of time to talk about misfortune. Unless its luck changes ÷ really changes.

Metro lost 3-2 to Regis University on Oct. 3. It is not the loss itself, but the way the Roadrunners lost that stings.

Regis won the game on an improbable shot from 35-yards out that just tipped off of the outstretched arm of Metro goalie Stephen Babby. The ball snuck into the upper-left corner of the net with 31 seconds remaining.

Metro (5-8, 2-6) fell again Oct. 5 to the Colorado School of Mines 3-2 when it allowed another goal with under a minute left in the game.

The goal tied the match at 2-2, but Mines quickly put an end to overtime with the game-winner two minutes into the extra period.

Finally, at the University of Denver Oct. 7, Metro lost its penchant for dramatics in a ho-hum 3-1 loss to the Pioneers. It was the sixth straight loss for the Roadrunners, and one that might have nailed shut the door to the conference tournament.

ãWe are tired, and mentally, we are struggling,ä coach Brian Crookham said. ãWe have been on a very long road trip all season long and it will be nice to see our home field on (Oct. 10).ä

Metro has not played a home match this season because of the delays in the Auraria Fields project started last spring.

Five of the the Roadrunnersâ eight losses have been by one goal. Crookham attributes it to bad luck.

ãAt times this season, we have been very unlucky,ä Crookham said. ãEvery one of those losses has been because of different (unlucky) reasons.ä

Despite feeling snakebitten, the coach and the team know there is more to winning and losing than luck.

ãWhen DU scored the third goal, it was a major back-breaker.ä senior forward Adam Young said. ãIt basically deflated the comeback, and we just gave up.

ãWe had a good attitude at the half. Even though it was 2-0, we felt that we could come back and make a game out of it. We are not coming to the games ready to play. I donât know if we are getting outworked.ä

With the loss to DU, Metro holds a 2-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference record.

The Roadrunners, twice ranked No. 23 nationally earlier this season, are looking for a way to put their season back together and make it to the conference tournament.

Metro would have to win the final four conference games to finish 6-6 in the RMAC, which Crookham believes could get the Roadrunners into the playoffs.

Metro is trying to avoid a repeat of last season when it backed into the conference tournament because of other teamsâ misfortune more than its own performance.

ãItâs getting very frustrating,ä Young said. ãWe just can not put things together in the games.ä

Metro has four of its last five games at the new Auraria Fields. Crookham said he thinks his team will play better at home. Southern Colorado will be Metroâs first  opponent on its new field at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 10.

The Metro Athletics department will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony before christening the fields, Sports Information Director Mark Cicero said.

The menâs team is far more concerned with the end of the game, though.