DENVER – It was still just the opening minutes of a key Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup.
 
Metropolitan State University of Denver had just been awarded a penalty kick against Dixie State. On the field, co-captain Danny Bautista (Denver, Colo./North) was discussing who would take the critical shot with teammate Bryan Amouyal (Ashdod, Israel/Mekif Tet).
 
"Every player wants to kick it," Bautista said. "And Bryan is always the first one who wants to shoot it. We have a good relationship. I told him, 'I'll get this one, you get the next one.'"
 
Bautista buried it. MSU Denver went on to a 4-1 victory that capped a 2-0 start to league play and eliminated any lingering discomfort from a 1-3 non-conference season.
 
"I enjoy stepping up to the plate," Bautista said. "If my name is called for that opportunity, I'm going to go and stand up for my team. Whether it's a penalty kick, getting down on a tackle, or winning a header, I'm going to be the person to step up to the plate."
 
The Roadrunners are seeking to ride that momentum this weekend, with RMAC road games Friday against Fort Lewis at 3 p.m. and Sunday against 17^th-ranked Colorado Mesa at 1 p.m.
 
Both opponents are 3-0-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the RMAC. Mesa was picked to finish second in the league, Fort Lewis third. Their league tie was against one another. To sum up, MSU Denver will be playing back-to-back games against high-quality opponents.
 
"It's big, like any other weekend," Bautista said. "You can never overlook any RMAC opponent. Our goal is to get six points out of the weekend."
 
No doubt Bautista will have much to do with the Roadrunners' success.
 
"The growth in him each year has been tremendous," MSU Denver coach Jeremy Tittle said. "Just when I think I don't know how much more he can do, he finds another level."
 
Bautista, who has three career goals, does a little bit of everything while playing his defensive center midfielder position. Make that a lot of everything.
 
"He's got energy for days," Tittle said. "He covers a lot of ground, and he's got a high fitness level. He's smart in his positioning. A lot of teams with players at that position don't ask that player to get out of that space very often – they want them to protect that part of the field.
 
"What's great about Danny is that he does that, and he can cover so much more ground. He generates some attack for us and can be (penalty) box to (penalty) box."
 
Bautista said his main focus is to protect the back line, but if he sees the opportunity then he'll move forward. Communication, both his own to others as well as the back line to him, is critical.
 
"There's a little bit of design to it, and he's really good at exercising good judgement about it," Tittle said. "He shows constraint when it's needed, and when he sees an opportunity he's not bashful about getting after it. He's a good competitor. He loves a challenge."
 
Those challenges include things like winning an inordinate amount of headers, despite standing just 5-foot-6.
 
"Yeah, taller players probably think, 'Oh, I've got this,'" Bautista said. "And yeah, most of the time they do. But at the same time, I'm not giving up. I'm going to try to win every ball and protect the goal."
 
A Denver North graduate, Bautista said he welcomed the opportunity to stay close to home to attend college and continue playing soccer.
 
"The biggest reason is that it's close to home," said Bautista, a double major in criminal justice and psychology who would like to one day work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Home is everything. I love being around family and friends. I just felt like this is the right place for me. The coaching staff and players were amazing when I came on my visit.
 
"I grew up knowing a couple of players who came through this program, and after talking with them about their experience, they loved it. They said they would do it again if they had the chance, and that caught my ear."
 
After a redshirt season, Bautista appeared in 11 games and made three starts as a freshman in 2016, recording one assist. He played in all 20 games, starting 15, last year. So far this year he has played every second in four of MSU Denver's six games, and he's been on the field for 499 of the Roadrunners' 540 minutes.
 
"He never wants to stop working or getting better," Tittle said. "On days off, or lighter days in training for recovery, he's disappointed."
 
Training includes practicing penalty kicks, by the way.
 
"He practices them and he puts them in," Tittle said. "It was a quality penalty. I don't know how much closer he could've stuck it into the side of the net than what he did. The keeper even went the right direction and he still beat him there."
 
Too bad next time is Amouyal's turn.
 
Or is it?
 
"Well, I mean, I didn't miss," Bautista said, laughing. "So it's kind of still mine."