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'Runners bury 'Diggers, beat Mustangs
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Chuck Iversen • civerse1@mscd.edu Metro midfielder Kellen Johnson, center, soars above two Master’s defenders for a header Sept. 9 at Auraria Field. The Roadrunners beat the Mustangs 3-0. The win marked the second for Metro in as many days as the men beat Colorado School of Mines 2-1 for the weekend sweep.

After a “disappointing” 6-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Fort Lewis last week, men’s soccer head coach Ken Parsons wondered how the team would rebound and find their way back to winning ways.

The Metro men’s soccer team showed their coach that they had not forgotten what it took to get results by beating two quality opponents over the past weekend. The Roadrunners outlasted Colorado School of Mines 2-1 and then relied on two late goals by midfielder Antonio Porras to beat The Master’s College 3-0.

“Coming off that loss, this was a must-win,” Parsons said. “The scheduling hasn’t been particularly friendly to us, as we had to play a lot of tough games. This is a good win based on the fact that it was important to see how our team rebounds, regroups, and how our team refocuses.”

The win against the Orediggers came Friday, Sept. 8 in Golden, where goalkeeper Ryan Vickery saw 19 shots and made 10 saves for the Metro win. The Orediggers attacked Vickery at every angle, and the shot total would have been much higher if not for countless shots blocked by Mines’ own defenders.

“This is the kind of game where Vickery will do well,” Parsons said. “He’s a shot stopper. He had to come up with a couple of them over the course of the game that certainly could have gone the Mines’ way.”

Forward Shaun Elbaum scored the opening goal in the 13th minute off midfielder Mark Cromie’s corner kick. After ’Diggers forward Craig Thompson tied the game at one apiece with his team-leading fifth goal of the season, Metro freshman Ken Weigang scored his first collegiate and game-winning goal in the 39th minute.

Weigang said it felt good to get that first goal. He saw the ball come to him, saw a wide-open net and took the kick that led to the 2-1 victory.

Saturday’s game versus The Master’s College revolved around one play that could have swung a victory for either team.

Metro struck first with Elbaum’s fourth goal in his last four games with assists by Porras and forward John McClain. Clinging to the 1-0 lead, Metro controlled the ball and kept firing shots towards the Mustangs’ net. The Roadrunners had trouble with accuracy and spent the first half looking for a second goal to put the game away.

Master’s finally found a chance with 10 minutes to go when forward Jared Thornton took a shot on goal, forcing Vickery to make a diving save. However, the ball was not grabbed by the Metro goalie, and Thornton was left with an open net off the rebound. Possibly surprised with the sudden opportunity, Thornton took a quick shot but lofted it high over the net, missing the opportunity to tie a game in which the Mustangs were outplayed and breathless from the Denver altitude.

“They got their second wind and had a lot of pressure upon us,” Vickery explained of the play. “I made a save and they had a wide-open goal and luckily hit (the ball) over. Our guys came back, stepped it up, and scored another goal to help us win.”

With the chance all but gone, the Roadrunners came right back and scored a goal less than two minutes later to wrap up the game. Porras scored the goal on McClain’s second assist of the day. Porras added another goal 39 seconds later on a penalty kick.

Porras’s goals were his second and third on the year, and he remains only one goal back from tying the school’s career mark of 39.

“I don’t know if we should have put ourselves in that position to begin with,” Parson said of that pivotal play. “And I think we could have certainly given ourselves a cushion before that. With Tony (Porras), he took the initiative upon himself to score a couple of goals. Tony was a recipient of McClain’s hard work and it was necessary for us to win this game.”