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Men's soccer mauls 'Jackets, Marauders
8 Roadrunners contribute as Metro rolls in road games
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Metro’s last trip out of state ended in one loss, one tie and no goals. The team’s latest trip to Billings, Mont. was a prettier sight as the Roadrunners got two wins, no losses, and seven goals, defeating the University of Mary 5-0 and Montana State-Billings 2-1 on Oct. 7 and 8.

“It’s always tough on the road, especially when these road games come all at once,” head coach Ken Parsons said. “It’s a long season and the injuries are starting to take their toll, and we are still in the hunt (for the playoffs).”

The drubbing of the Marauders was a team effort as eight different players posted either an assist or a goal. Forward Wynne Mason led the charge, scoring two goals, and midfielder Sam Rolph, who had an assist on Mason’s first goal, had two assists on the day and three for the weekend.

Midfielder Philip Owen provided the game-winning goal at the nine-minute mark after midfielder Mark Cromie took a shot toward the goal on a free kick. Marauders’ goalkeeper AJ Oliver couldn’t keep a grasp on the ball, and Owen kicked it in. It was Owen’s second goal on the season and his first game-winner of the year.

It wouldn’t take long for Owen to record his second game-winner as he scored the go-ahead goal in the sixth minute of overtime against Montana State-Billings at the College of Technology Field on Oct. 8.

Parsons said it was just a matter of time before Owen got into the swing of things and that he is a great player who just hasn’t finished on his opportunities. Parsons added that some of those opportunities were just great saves by opposing goalies or shots just wide of the net, and that Owen’s groove is coming.

The Yellowjackets scored first in the seventh minute off a corner kick by forward Jeremy DeHerrerra, his second goal on the year. The assist was given to midfielder Greg McKeever.

Metro soon tied the game at 1-1 when midfielder Mark Cromie lofted a free kick towards the Yellowjackets net and forward Wynne Mason kicked it past the goalie for his fifth goal on the season.

After Mason’s third goal of the weekend, the Roadrunners seemed to gain momentum as they put two quality shots on goal in a row, but Montana State goalkeeper Sander Tollefson made excellent saves to keep the game tied.

Metro’s momentum took another step back as Kellen Johnson received a red card that ejected him from the game and forced the ’Runners to play a man down for the rest of the game. There was still the second half to play.

Metro only managed two shots on goal in the second half and spent most of it fighting off the Yellowjackets’ man advantage. They only allowed three shots on goal despite being a man down and forced overtime. Owen came up big by taking a deep pass from Rolph and kicking it to the left side of the net for the win.

When asked how he keeps his men playing hard against struggling opponents, Parsons said that the season is not over and his team needs to stay motivated against those teams looking to knock them off.

“These teams (Colorado Christian and Colorado State-Pueblo) have reason to be motivated against us,” Parsons said. “They may not have much to play and want to end the season on a win.”

The victories move the ’Runners record to 10-4-1 including a 6-2 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Metro continues their current seven-game road trip back in Colorado to take on RMAC foes CU-Colorado Springs on Oct. 13 and Colorado State-Pueblo on Oct. 15.