ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Metropolitan State University of Denver women's soccer team got a late goal from Lauren Wynns (Livonia, Mich./Livonia Churchill) but fell short of a comeback at Dixie State on Tuesday night in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal, suffering a 2-1 defeat. Fifth seed MSU Denver (10-7-1) hoped to get revenge for a 1-0 loss at Dixie State (13-5-0) on Sept. 28, but instead saw their RMAC tournament title hopes come to an end in St. George at the hands of the fourth-seed Traiblazers.

The Roadrunners played from behind for nearly the entire match. Dixie State's Alexa Ashton drew first blood just about three minutes into the match to give the Trailblazers an early lead, scoring on a bloop header off a flick throw.

"Trying to come back from behind right away is always tough," MSU Denver head coach Tracy Chao said Tuesday night. "It deflates you for a moment and it's a matter of how you respond in that moment to go back up. You have to create a play right away and can't let the game settle. In the first half, we didn't respond very well. In the second half, we came out and gave a good 45 minutes of effort."

Dixie State added to its lead in the 36^th minute, as Trailblazer Tori Page dribbled down the right side of the field, cut back and finished with her left foot from 25 yards out. At half, MSU Denver had nothing to show for its 7-3 lead in shots. Instead, the Roadrunners faced a 2-0 deficit.

After hitting the reset button at halftime, MSU Denver picked up its sense of urgency in the second period. The Roadrunners finally broke through the Trailblazer defense in the 75^th minute, as junior forward Lauren Wynns (Livonia, Mich./Livonia Churchill) picked a good time for her first goal of the season to cut the Dixie State lead in half. Wynns beat a defender and found the net from 20 yards out, giving the Roadrunners about 15 minutes to even things up.

Another goal wasn't in store, however, and Dixie State sent the Roadrunners home while itself advancing to the RMAC tournament semifinal against Colorado School of Mines.  

"We obviously got one back and had a few more opportunities," Chao said. "We had a lot of free kicks and set pieces, and we have to capitalize on those too. (Dixie State) played their style and executed very well. To be honest, I don't think we executed our ability to find where we could be successful until the second half."

Dixie State finished with the advantage in shots, 11-9, and shots on goal, 7-3. MSU Denver goalkeeper Erica Torres (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield), who received All-RMAC Honorable Mention honors earlier in the day, had five saves.

The Roadrunners await the 2018 Division II NCAA Tournament draw to find out the final fate of their 2018 season, but if they aren't selected, Tuesday night's match will have been the last time donning an MSU Denver uniform for the program's four seniors. Two seniors, Emily Romer (Chandler, Ariz./Perry) and Raegan Staib (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield Christian), played all 90 minutes on Tuesday. Senior Ari Flores played 12 minutes in the match, and fellow senior Reigna Banks (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) sat out due to injury after earning 2018 RMAC Co-Player of the Year honors earlier in the day.

"They drove energy," Chao said of Romer and Staib. "For them it's all or nothing. This is it. You don't really know that feeling until you're in it.

"They've left a huge mark and left their legacy," Chao continued about the whole senior class. "It's our responsibility to take those lessons and learn and build and take this program to where it needs to be. (Banks, Flores, Romer and Staib) gave us intensity and heart and leadership, probably more so off the field than on the field, and that's what we have to learn from them."

If Tuesday's match was the last of the 2018 campaign, MSU Denver's 10-7-1 record counts as its best since 2014, when the Roadrunners were 14-2-5 and qualified for the NCAA tournament. Either way, the future is bright for a team that got about two thirds of its goals this season from players who will be returning in 2019.

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