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Men's soccer continues undefeated streak in conference

Metro takes draw with Mesa State, shuts out Fort Lewis in RMAC play

By Austin Rosenthal
arosent3@mscd.edu

Metro’s 11th-ranked men’s soccer team hasn’t lost in a long time. In fact, they haven’t lost since the beginning of September, spanning 13 games. The Roadrunners made sure to make keep the streak alive as they managed a 1-1 tie against Mesa State on Oct. 12, coupled with a 2-0 win against Fort Lewis Oct. 14 in Durango.

In their first match, Mesa State got off to an early start with a goal in the 18th minute. Maverick defender Jake Jobe got his first goal of the season to put the Mavericks up 1-0 when he hit a shot that went top shelf on an assist from midfielder Sam Pinegar.

The shot was placed perfectly in the left corner of the net where Metro goalkeeper Ryan Vickery couldn’t make a save on it.

Shortly after, in the 26th minute, Shaun Elbaum answered for the Roadrunners, slotting a pass from Ola Sandquist past Mesa State’s goalkeeper Josh Tinaglia.

With only two goals scored the entire game and with the score knotted at one for the remainder of regulation, the two teams battled back and forth. There were some hard fouls on both sides of the ball and tensions were high.

Six minutes into the first overtime, Metro midfielder Kellen Johnson was given a red card after a goal was called back on an offside call. Johnson, who had all ready been red carded in a game earlier this season, forced his teammates to play a man down for the rest of the first overtime and the entire second overtime. Neither team could break the tie and the game ended at 1-1. The Roadrunners outshot Mesa State 36-21 and had 14 of the game’s 15 corner kicks, though Tinaglia had a great game with 14 saves.

“I know we are going to do great things in the playoffs this year,” Johnson said. “I hope my red card doesn’t affect the team in any negative way and that I can do whatever possible to contribute for the rest of the season.”

Metro then headed to Durango to play conference rival Fort Lewis two days later. The Skyhawks were the No. 2 team in the league and the Roadrunners looked to put up backto- back wins against them without the services of Johnson.

The Roadrunners snapped an eight-game losing streak against Fort Lewis with an emotional 5-3 win at Auraria Field earlier this season.

Both teams possessed the ball well in the first half, but the defenses were strong and neither team was able to score.

n the 69th minute, however, Metro finally punched one through as defender Ryan Brooks had an unassisted goal on a nice play to put Metro on the board.

With the 1-0 lead, Metro continued their defensive dominance, allowing only five shots on goal, all saved by Vickery.

With 4:36 left in the second half, a Fort Lewis foul resulted in a penalty kick for Metro. Metro forward Phillip Owen was selected to take the kick and he put it past Fort Lewis goalkeeper Zane Wells for Metro’s second goal.

Owen, Metro’s all-time leading point scorer, is giving defenses nightmares this season, scoring 15 goals and four assists. He has 34 points and he leads the entire Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

With the 2-0 win over Fort Lewis, Metro improves to 12-1-3 overall and 7-0-3 in the RMAC. The Roadrunners will next take on the the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Oct. 19 in conference play at Auraria field.