DENVER – With senior forward Reigna Banks (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) providing the offensive firepower once again, the No. 11 Metropolitan State University of Denver women's soccer team (4-1-1, 2-0-0) defeated No. 23 CSU-Pueblo (3-2-1, 0-2-0) by a score of 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Regency Athletic Complex. Banks scored her eighth and ninth goals of the season in her second consecutive multi-goal effort and third overall this season. The senior has found the back of the net in all six of MSU Denver's matches this year.

Some of Banks' goals – such as her second goal on Sunday, a rebound after multiple MSU Denver misses that she deposited in the top shelf from 18 yards out – have come due to being in the right place at the right time. But according to MSU Denver head coach Tracy Chao, that's what good players do.

"Good players get themselves in the right places at the right times," Chao said about Banks following the match. Banks' scoring prowess, however, is not just the sum of her own talents.

"It's because it's a domino effect of the roles and the people around her," Chao added. "Sometimes goals look great, but it's the five or 10 seconds that led up to it that really create what's happening to make it easy for that player. There's a lot of work behind that gets unnoticed to lead up to that."

Banks got it going early in Sunday's match, placing a header in the top left corner of the net after a corner kick to the far post in the seventh minute. While that goal tied a single-season career high with eight already during the 2018 campaign, Banks waited only 28 minutes and 35 seconds to set a new career high. She played one-woman cleanup crew after a CSU-Pueblo save and subsequent blocked shot, giving her a whopping four goals in MSU Denver's two weekend matches.

With Banks at the helm, MSU Denver's offense has been unstoppable. The Roadrunners have outscored their opponents 17-4 this season, with Banks accounting for over half those goals.

As of Thursday night, the NCAA Division II lead in goals was seven, shared by two players. Banks' four weekend goals have almost certainly vaulted her into the national lead, though confirmation awaits with the release of an NCAA statistics update on Monday morning. On Monday morning, however, the Roadrunners will shift their focus to Colorado Mesa.  

"We take one game at a time no matter who the opponent is, because we know they're going to come out and battle," Chao said. "At this point so early in the season, everybody's fighting for a spot to get to the postseason. Every game matters."

With two home shutouts under their belt to start Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, MSU Denver will host another slate of RMAC games this upcoming weekend. The Roadrunners plah host to Colorado Mesa at 7 p.m. MT Friday before welcoming Western State Colorado on 1 p.m. Sunday at the Regency Athletic Complex.

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