The Colorado Mesa University men’s soccer team was able to pick up their first conference win over CSU-Pueblo on Sunday in a 1-0 contest at Walker Field.
Both teams struggled to get something going in the first half. The Mavericks weren’t holding possession as well as normal which caused consistent offensive struggle.
“I think we had trouble bringing the ball forward,” senior Lawan Abary said. “At halftime today the coaches explained to us how to bring the ball… the players need to come deeper, get the ball (and) try to find us.”
CMU’s offensive efforts didn’t really show in the first half with only two shots on goal and compared to CSU-Pueblo’s eight. At halftime, the match would remain scoreless.
Going into the second half, the Mavericks felt challenged to come up with a solution to their offensive woes
“We didn’t feel too confident in our first half” Head Coach Andrew Conniff said. “We challenged the guys in terms of their energy and in terms of their effort.”
The defense, however, performed significantly well as goalkeeper Brendan Brown had six saves on the night.
It took the Mavericks some time but they finally found the back of the net in the 74th minute on a powerful cross kick from Ramses Atahualpa to Niall Shaffery. This put the Mavericks up 1-0. The Thunderwolves were unable to counter and the Mavericks would eventually seal the win and improve to 3-1-1 on the year.
The Mavericks continue their RMAC stretch by taking on MSU-Denver on September 27 at Regency Athletic Complex in Denver.
