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'Runners dodge close calls on the road
Metro manhandles Colorado Christian; narrowly beats Mesa, Fort Lewis on the road
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photo by Heather A. Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu Midfielder Jessica Brown tracks down the ball against Colorado Christian Sept. 6 at Auraria Field. Brown, a transfer athlete from University of Wyoming, scored two goals on the day. The Metro women whipped the Cougars 8-0 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.

The Metro women’s soccer team continued its Division-II dominance last week in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action. Though the road – which was full of nasty elements last week for Metro – hasn’t been as smooth for the Roadrunners so far this season, the results have been exactly the same. They win.

Metro made fools out of Colorado Christian on Wednesday with an 8-0 drubbing, but squeezed by Friday’s and Sunday’s games with the help of forward Kylee Hanavan’s late-game heroism.

“It’s tough to go on the road because both of those teams are much improved from the last couple of years,” head coach Danny Sanchez said. “Did we play great all the time? No, but we did enough to win and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters.”

Hanavan was absent from the Roadrunners match-up against Colorado Christian on Sept. 6 due to a previous red card, but the senior was barely missed as the newbie Metro stars, freshman Becca Mays and transfer Jessica Brown, scored two goals each.

The game was scoreless through the first 31 minutes, until Mays nailed a header to give the ’Runners the 1-0 lead. Then the floodgates opened, with Metro outshooting the Cougars 26-3 in the game, including a 14-1 contrast in the first half.

Forward Kira Sharp added a second goal for the ’Runners with a header in the 33rd minute, and Brown added another score on a loose ball to give Metro a 3-0 lead heading into the break.
Defensive back Jenna Oney, forward Katie Kilbey and goalkeeper Sarah Leonard rounded out the scoring attack, with Oney adding two assists to the afternoon.

With the victory, the Roadrunners have won 54 straight home games dating back to 2002.
Metro went on the road for a pair of away RMAC games starting Sept. 8. The ’Runners’ first stop was in Grand Junction, where Metro took on Mesa State.

The Mavericks gave the ’Runners a rough ride, shutting Metro down in the first half. Hanavan scored on a cross path from Mays in the 58th minute to give the Roadrunners the lead, but the Maverick’s Lauren Sell drove one past the goalkeeper Rachel Zollner to tie the game in the 83rd minute.

Oney then had her third assist of the week with a pass to Hanavan for the goal. The goals were the sixth and seventh of the season for Hanavan. This season Oney and Hanavan have already been awarded RMAC defensive and offensive Player of the Week awards, respectively.

“I feel like at the beginning of the season we were getting better results and lately we’ve been having a tough time scoring,” Oney said. “But we’re coming through with wins.”

Hanavan scored her eighth goal of the season off Sharp’s assist in the 58th minute Sept. 10. Though it was the only goal of the game, it proved to be enough to carry the Roadrunners over Fort Lewis at Dirks Field in Durango.

“We came out strong but we didn’t finish our chances at first,” Hanavan said. “It’s just lucky that I had the goals because any one of us could have scored them. After that, we played smart defense and went out and won it.”

Metro managed a 20-11 shooting advantage over the Skyhawks but were off the mark most of the day.

Hanavan connected for just one of seven shots, but only one goal was needed as Zollner shut down the Skyhawks in the goal box.

Zollner logged five saves on 11 Fort Lewis shots and was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 12 for her efforts last week.

“Fort Lewis is a beautiful place to play, but it was an ugly game and I think it made me have to focus even more,” Zollner said. “And the defense is making it easier for me to make saves and that’s why we haven’t been scored on many times.”

Aside from the eight goals this year, Hanavan also leads the team with 18 points. The Roadrunners win was the 54th unbeaten game for Metro dating back to 2004.

Metro is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA’s Division-II. They continue RMAC action on Sept. 15 against Colorado State-Pueblo before traveling to the north side of town to take on rival Regis University on Sept. 17.