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Metro men's soccer meets Texas-sized challenge on road trip
'Runners scoreless on trip to Lone Star state; goalie change made to get 'results'
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Metro started a seven-game road trip that began in San Antonio on Sept. 29 but left their offense in Denver as the Roadrunners failed to score a goal against non-conference foes Incarnate Word, 5-0, and St. Edwards, 0-0.

“It was a resemblance of our first trip to Fort Lewis,” head coach Ken Parsons said, referencing their 6-0 rout in Durango on Sept. 3. “We just didn’t come out ready to play against a very good team, and (the win) really could have helped us out in the postseason stuff.”

Incarnate Word, ranked 11th in Division II, welcomed Metro with two first-half goals and a stifling defense to shut out the Roadrunners 5-0 on Sept. 29.

The Cardinals jumped on the board when defender Tom Morrill scored the game-winning goal unassisted in the 22nd minute. Midfielder Michael Terrell put the score at 2-0 when he knocked in a goal off a Jamie Scope corner kick.

Incarnate went on to score three more goals in the second half and outshot the Roadrunners 19-7. Metro only had three shots on goal, including one apiece by defender Andrew Donnelly and midfielders John McClain and Sam Rolph.

Metro goalkeeper Ryan Vickery, who has five shutouts on the year, was pulled in the 66th minute, after allowing four goals on eight shots.

Backup goalkeeper Jordan Ivey finished the last 23 minutes of the game and allowed one goal on three shots.

“It wasn’t working against Incarnate, so he (Parson) just wanted to change things up,” said forward Wynne Mason regarding the goalkeeping change against Incarnate Word. “The coach wanted to see something new, and he (Ivey) played well against St. Edwards.”

Ivey played so well, in fact, he shut out a tough St. Edwards team (4-1-3) in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 1 in a 0-0 tie. St. Edwards was ranked 25th in the nation at the time of the match.

The two teams fought through 90 minutes of regulation, two overtimes of 20 minutes and five yellow cards in this very physical and grueling game.

The Roadrunners put up 10 shots with four on goal as the Hilltoppers had eight shots with only three on net.

“I have been working for it for four years now, so I really enjoyed it,” Ivey said on getting his first start of the year and his second start of his Metro career.

“There isn’t really a whole lot of difference between skill with me and Vick and he is a really good goalkeeper. We weren’t getting the results so we made the switch, and I got it (the starting goalkeeping job) until I play bad,” he added.

Dating back to a 2-0 shutout against Fort Lewis on Sept. 18, the Roadrunners have failed to record a goal in the past three games.

“We have to take more shots on goal,” said Mason on the scoring drought. “That’s the key. We need to work it outside to our midfielders and get some crosses in. I don’t think we had enough crosses. I think we will do a lot better if we do those things.”

Metro used Mason’s advice and attacked a winless Colorado Christian team with five goals on 15 shots in a 5-0 blowout in Lakewood on Oct. 3.

Forward Shaun Elbaum led the way for the Roadrunners by scoring two goals and adding two assists. The goals were Elbaum’s 7th and 8th on the year.

Also involved in the scoring was midfielder Antonio Porras, who scored the game-winning goal in the 24th minute.

Midfielder Sam Rolph, who had two assists on the day, drove past a Cougar defender on the outside and took a shot on goal that bounced off the goalie. Porras was in front of the net and kicked it home for his 7th goal on the season.

Midfielder Philip Owen contributed a goal and an assist while midfielder Kellen Johnson kicked in his third goal this year.

The win and two losses put Metro’s overall record at 8-4-1, 6-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as they head for Billings, Mont., where they will face the University of Mary on Oct. 7 and Montana State-Billings on Oct. 8.

“Now we have to take care the rest of the schedule,” said Parsons. “We probably can’t do everything to control our own fate anymore. It’s two big games with Billings and Mary, both Division II opponents, that are games we need to win. We need to win the rest of the season to give ourselves a chance at the postseason.”