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Last Updated: Nov 5th, 2008 - 03:29:45 |
The No. 15-ranked Metro men's soccer team battled No. 3 Fort Lewis before falling 3-2 in Durango Oct. 31 and defeated Mesa State 3-1 in Grand Junction two days later.
Metro needed to defeat Fort Lewis to have a chance to host the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament but came up short.
“It’s always hard to win at their place, and it was devastating because we really needed the points because our goal was to get six points this weekend and host the RMAC tournament,” Metro forward Kellen Johnson said.
The Skyhawks scored the first two goals of the game, in the fifth minute from forward Euan Purcell and in the 34th minute from defender Fabian Kling
Metro came back in the 41st minute and gained momentum going into the second half. The Skyhawks took a corner kick that was caught by Metro goalkeeper Ryan Vickery. Vickery punted the ball almost the whole field, and the Skyhawks goalkeeper attempted to clear it but hit his own defender. Johnson was right there to put it in the back of the net for his 15th goal of the season and a 2-1 halftime score.
Metro evened the score a little more than 10 minutes into the second half. In the 56th minute, Roadrunners midfielder Tyler Hambrick saved the ball from going out of bounds by kicking it over his head into the box. The Skyhawks goalkeeper was out of position, and forward Ola Sandquist headed it into an open net for his 12th goal of the season.
Fort Lewis came back to win the game 3-2 off a goal from defender Kyle Wood in the 67th minute. Fort Lewis clinched the regular reason RMAC championship and will host the tournament in Durango this upcoming weekend.
“It was a hard loss, no question about it. On the other hand though, we showed some great character coming back from 2-0 to 2-2. This time it wasn’t enough, but next time it hopefully will be,” Sandquist said.
Head coach Ken Parsons felt that the game could have been 2-1 in Metro’s favor if they had started the game stronger.
“They are very organized, and for us to not to come out and play for the first 30 minutes and spot them a two goal lead, that is going to be something that is difficult to overcome,” Parsons said.
Metro bounced back Nov. 2 to defeat Mesa State 3-1 in their final regular season game.
The Roadrunners started the game strong by scoring two first half goals. Metro scored in the fourth minute of the game with a give and go from Johnson to Sandquist for his 13th goal of the season.
Johnson followed with a goal of his own in the 26th minute off a punt from Vickery that he chipped over the Mavericks’ goalkeeper. It was Johnson’s 16th goal of the season, which leads the RMAC.
It was 2-0 at halftime, and Metro was quick to score in the 49th minute. Hambrick received a pass from defender Ryan Brooks for his fourth goal of the season and Brooks’ fifth assist of the season.
Metro was kept out of the net for the rest of the game and gave up the shutout. In the 81st minute, forward Andy Cornia scored an unassisted goal.
The game ended 3-1 putting Metro in second place in the RMAC behind Fort Lewis.
“I thought we played very attractive soccer. I thought we were very efficient in the attacking third. I thought that we scored some good goals,” Parsons said.
The news was not all good after the win. Johnson fell late in the first half of the Mesa game and landed on his shoulder. He broke his right collarbone and is in a sling for at least a month.
“The doctor said it’s an eight-10 week time period before I can play again, so it is season ending,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be so hard watching the playoffs from the sidelines. I’m a competitor, and not being able to play is eating away at me.”
The rest of the team, including Parsons, is not feeling any better about the injury.
“Obviously, Kellen has been a great player in this program. It’s unfortunate that this had to happen this late as we are preparing for the postseason, with a player that has been the leading scorer in the conference. You take that player off your team, and, obviously, it’s going to hurt you,” Parsons said.
Metro’s leading scorer and second in assists being out for the season makes room for some big shoes to fill.
“To not be able to have the leading goal scorer in the lineup will obviously be a huge loss for us. It will be an adjustment for both me and the team. Now when Kellen's not going to be there for us, somebody else has to fill his shoes. We have a lot of talented players on the team, and I'm confident that the replacer, whoever it may be, will do a fine job,” Sandquist said.
Metro will travel to Durango for the RMAC tournament and face Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 7. If Metro wins, then they will face the winner of the Fort Lewis-CSU-Pueblo in the championship on Nov. 9.
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