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Metro men get kicked around in upset
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Heather Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu Metro freshman forward Wynne Mason, right, attacks the ball as Midwestern midfielder Ahmad Ihmeidan makes the slide tackle. The Roadrunners scored two goals in the last minute of the game to force the match into overtime, but ended up losing, 3-2. Mason helped the ‘Runners bounce back with a 1-0 win over West Florida by scoring the only goal in Sunday’s game.

Over the span of a season, a soccer team will see its share of ups and downs. This past weekend encapsulated the trials and triumphs of a full year for the Roadrunners men’s soccer team.

Metro split its two-game home stand with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Midwestern State and a 1-0 win against West Florida at Auraria Field this past weekend.

“The first game, we didn’t really play as a team,” said freshman forward Wynne Mason. “We needed a game to gel. And it showed (in the first game), because we didn’t play that well. But still, we almost tied the game. Today we showed a lot of improvement as a team.”

In the season opener against Midwestern State, the Mustangs scored first when sophomore defender Brannon Calvert took a lob pass from junior midfielder Daniel Brown and punched a header past freshman Ryan Vickery in the first half.

Only 15 seconds into the second half, Midwestern State took a 2-0 lead when sophomore midfielder Ahmad Ihmeidan took a shot to the low corner of the net, just out of goalie Vickery’s reach.

For the next 43 minutes, Metro showed their offseason rust with less-than-stellar play. Their passes were off-target, their hustle had faded and frustration was building as sophomore John McClain was ejected from the game after receiving two yellow cards. Metro continued with only 10 of its starting 11 players.

With a two-goal lead, the Mustangs kept the Roadrunners out of their zone by leaving five to six players on defense to thwart any offensive attack. This is a common strategy in soccer, and Midwestern State worked it to perfection until almost the last minute of the game.

In the 89th minute, Metro finally found the back of the net when newly transferred freshman Kellen Johnson knocked one past the goalkeeper off an assist by senior Antonio Porras, putting the score at 2-1.

“It feels great.” Johnson said about contributing to his new team. “Last year when I was playing (at Denver University), I was injured most of the year. I feel like I am part of the team.”

However, the goal led to a yellow card for excessive celebration when the Metro players congregated into a pile and took too much time congratulating Johnson. After the referee announced the yellow card, junior Mark Cromie yelled something at him and received his second yellow card of the day, forcing him to the bench and leaving the Roadrunners two men down for the rest of the game.

After taking almost 90 minutes to score their first goal, Metro only needed 23 seconds to score another when junior forward Shaun Elbaum tied the game with an assist from Johnson.
As regulation ticked off, the players shook hands and walked to their respective benches, beginning to take off shirts and shoes. Then Midwestern State head coach Doug Elder walked over to the scorer’s desk and asked if overtime would be played. After a few minutes of discussion, it was decided that the game would continue into sudden death overtime. The players redressed and took the field.

After giving up the lead in the final minute, the Mustangs were fired up to have a second chance, and they took only four minutes to score in overtime. Senior forward Brian Swartzendruber scored the game-winning goal off an assist by Brown.

“It was disheartening,” Metro head coach Ken Parsons said. “For the guys to come back and score two goals in 23 seconds was certainly an impressive comeback. Expecting the team to go through two 10-minute overtimes against a team with a two-man advantage may have been too tall a task.”

Sunday’s game was less dramatic, with Metro scoring an early goal in the first half against the Argonauts and never looking back. Johnson assisted Mason in the game’s only goal scored.

West Florida was never in the game, as they only had three shots on goal, none of which challenged the goalkeeper. Parsons believed that the altitude played a part in the win and was happy with his team’s results for the weekend.

“We got two quality opponents right away,” Parsons said. “We wanted to see how we measured up against other parts of the country and I feel pretty good on how the team played.”