sports

Women continue strong play on the road

Roadrunners earn pair of shutouts in non-conference Texas two-step

By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

The Metro women's soccer team took a pair of close wins this weekend in a road trip through Texas. The Roadrunners won both non-conference games by final scores of 1-0, maintaining the top seed in NCAA Division II and improving to 13-0-0 on the season.

Metro traveled to San Antonio to face Incarnate Word (7-2-1) on Friday. It was there that the 'Runners ran into their biggest challenge so far this season.

The Cardinals kept pace with the 'Runners until the 85th minute, when Incarnate Word was charged with a penalty that resulted in a free kick.

Junior midfielder Kira Sharp threaded a shot through the defense to give Metro a one-goal lead and the eventual victory. The goal off a free kick was the second for Sharp in as many weeks.

"This was a big win on the road for us," Metro head coach Danny Sanchez said. "It was a very good goal by Kira to give us a great win."

Sharp continues to make an impact in her first year as a Roadrunner. "She's done very well and scored some timely goals when we needed them," Sanchez said.

The 85 minutes of scoreless soccer was the longest drought of the season for Metro.

The Roadrunners found similar results when they traveled to Austin to compete against St. Edwards University on Sunday.

Metro spent most of the first half with the Hilltoppers (4-8-0) in a scoreless tie before junior forward Kylee Hanavan scored her league-leading 14th goal of the season on a penalty kick. The goal came with four minutes left in the half and would be Metro's only goal of the game, despite out-shooting St. Edwards 14-5.

"We just played two very good teams on the road and that's the result you get," Sanchez said, in reference to the narrow margins of victory.

Hanavan and sophomore Shaun Elbaum of the Metro men's soccer team each took Offensive Player-of-the-Week awards in their respective divisions. Hanavan's distinction came on the heels of a seven-goal performance the week before.

The Roadrunners face two conference rematches on the road this weekend, heading first to Alamosa to take on Adam's State before heading south to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where they will battle New Mexico Highlands.

"It's hard going on the road for the second week in a row to face two teams that are playing extremely well," Sanchez said.

The Roadrunners defeated both upcoming teams back in September by scores of 4-0 in September.