by Bryce Reedy
Colorado Mesa University’s women’s soccer team was riding high up to Denver this weekend after winning both of their home games the previous week and moving to 2-1 in the RMAC.
However, matchups against the Metro State University (MSU) Roadrunners and the Regis University Rangers proved to be a bigger challenge for the Mavericks. CMU would end up tying Metro 0-0 and lost 3-0 to Regis.
The first matchup of the weekend came on Friday against the Roadrunners who entered the game with a 3-3-2 record, including going 2-2 in the conference. The Mavericks entered the contest outshooting their previous two opponents 33-8. However, CMU was only able to convert two of those shots into goals.
The Mavericks scoring woes continued against MSU as they would go onto take 13 total shots over the course of regulation and overtime, but were unable to score. Luckily for the Mavericks their defense held strong throughout the game.
The defense allowed the Roadrunners to have 14 shots on the day, but only four of them were shots on goal. CMU goalie Katelyn Houston finished the game with four saves on the night.
After both teams were held scoreless through the first 90 minutes of action, the game was sent to overtime. Both teams had two chances in the first 10 minutes, but neither could put one past the goalkeeper. In the second overtime period the Mavericks were the only ones able to get a shot off, but it too was off the mark. The game ended after 110 minutes of action with a 0-0 tie.
CMU’s next matchup was against the Rangers, who were 3-2-1 in the RMAC through the opening weeks. Unlike the matchup against the Roadrunners, however, the Maverick defense could not make up for the offense’s struggles to score.
The Rangers proved to be a more accurate force on the offensive side of the ball than other RMAC opponents up to this point in the year. Regis finished the game with 13 shots, eight of which were on goal.
Regis’s first goal of the match came in the early minutes thanks to forward Rikki Fix who scored her 10 goal of the season. The Mavericks would hold strong heading into halftime down only 1-0.
The Rangers would go on to score two goals in the second half, however, and put the game out of reach. The first came six minutes out of the break, the Rangers struck again, this time by Caelyn Hirschman. Then at the 72 minute mark of the match Emily Ramos got her first goal of the year off an assist from Sofia Garcia.
3-0 was the final in this one. CMU goalie Janelle Richmond-Buccola would finish the game with five saves.
The Mavericks now sit eighth in the RMAC with a 4-4-2 overall record and a 2-2-1 conference record. CMU will look to bounce back this weekend as they take on two other Colorado teams, Colorado Christian University and Colorado School of Mines, on the road.
