Following two Maverick victories last weekend where Colorado Mesa University scored twice in the final 80 minutes of action, it was CMU’s turn to lose in the final minutes. Regis University was able to break the 0-0 tie in the 85 minute to win the game 1-0.
The goal came following Maverick forward Halie Bergeron being sent off due to her second yellow card in the game. This forced the Mavericks to play the final seven minutes of regulation with 10 women instead of 11.
“That was difficult to adjust,” Head coach Jason Clare said. “[…] That was a tough one to go down and change our game plan, but of course it changed the game.”
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RU was able to take advantage of the extra player and scored the game-winning goal less than two minutes later. Despite the heartbreaking loss the Mavericks, it still took CMU being down a woman for the top team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to come away with the victory.
“I think for large parts of that game we were definitely the better team,” Clare said. “But you have to put away your chances. I don’t think we tested their goalkeeper too much.”
The Mavericks were only able to put up four shots on the night, with only one of those shots coming on goal. Meanwhile, the Rangers finished with 11 shots but only two of those came against goalkeeper Emily Signorio.
Signorio started her third consecutive game for CMU. She finished the night with one save and one goal allowed in her 90 minutes of action.
The loss moved the Mavericks to 5-4-0 on the season and 2-2-0 in the RMAC. However, there is still a lot of soccer to play for this team to get back on the right track.
“You just have to keep working hard and give ourselves a better option to score early,” Clare said. “[…] But [I am] really just proud of the way the girls played.”
Next up for the Mavericks is a matchup against rival MSU Denver on Sunday. The game will take place at Walker Field with the start time set for 2:30 p.m.