SPEARFISH, S.D. – Taylor Reising (Redmond, Wash./Rock Canyon) scored twice in the first 12 minutes and the Metropolitan State University of Denver women's soccer team cruised to a 6-0 victory Saturday over Black Hills State.
But Roadrunners coach Tracy Chao said there's still some work to be done before the start of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament play on Tuesday.
"To be honest, we weren't very good in the first half," she said. "We got away with a lot of things we shouldn't have. But Taylor getting the first couple of goals was good – in fact they were all good goals. And we needed to focus on preparing for Tuesday and getting a lot of players in."
MSU Denver improved to 10-6-1 overall and 8-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the program's best win totals in each category since 2014.
The Roadrunners finished tied for fourth in the league with 24 points. Unofficially the Roadrunners will get the fifth seed for the RMAC tournament and play a first-round game Tuesday at Dixie State. Official pairings are expected to be released later Saturday.
Reising took a pass on the right side of the net from Gabriella Gamboa (Prosper, Texas/Prosper) in the ninth minute and scored to the left post. Less than three minutes later, she scored again, beating the goalkeeper with a low shot after getting a pass from Brooklynn Mooney (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield).
The goals were the second and third of the season for Reising, who also scored Sept. 23 against Western State.
"She's not a natural forward, but with her versatility as a player we're able to put her in different areas on the field because she's strong and good on the ball and can finish," Chao said.
Jessica Mooney (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield) made it 3-0 in the 22nd minute, taking a pass on the left side of the penalty box and scoring on a high shot for her first career goal after previously recording six assists.
Gamboa, Mackayla Duerksen (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) and Paloma Teran (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic) scored second-half goals for the Roadrunners, who matched a season high with six goals.
Black Hills State dropped to 0-17-1 overall and 0-12-1 in the RMAC.
"They, to me, are one of the hardest-working and together teams, in terms of how well they come together and compete," Chao said. "For a team that hasn't won a game, hats off to them for continuing to fight until last minute of the last game of the season. You love the heart passion and commitment and that they have.
"And they had chances. Teams like that are hard to play against."
