DENVER – Every dynamic duo needs a nickname.
 
But, for now anyway, the perfect moniker for MSU Denver's Yannick Schad and Benjamin Brill is maybe a work in progress.
 
German Connection? Too easy.
 
"Sometimes they call us 'Ze Germans,'" Brill offered.
 
They can also call Schad, a senior midfielder from Munich, and Brill, a sophomore defender from Bruchmuhlbach-Miesau, highly effective.
 
Heading into games Friday at 7:30 p.m. at first-place Colorado School of Mines and Sunday at 11 a.m. at South Dakota Mines, Schad has a team-high four assists and ranks second with eight points. Brill shares the team lead with three goals.
 
"It's been a good year for both of them to take on new challenges," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Hank Lewis said.
 
Like all super heroes, Schad and Brill are able to send coded messages – they'll occasionally speak German to one another on the field. That's what led to Brill's first goal of the season – he used their native tongue to tell Schad where to send a free kick in a game against Chaminade (Hawaii) and Brill then scored a goal on the play with a header.
 
"If I take a free kick or corner kick, I let everybody know what I'm going to do, but also Benny is really good with his head and he sometimes sees where the space is or maybe there aren't many players marking him, or maybe there's a smaller player on him," Schad said. "He's going to tell me second post or first post and I try to bring it there."
 
And, of course, our protagonists are also great problem-solvers. Take last week's match against CSU-Pueblo as an example.
 
"I started realizing when they were announcing the lineups that they had seven or eight guys from Germany on their team," Schad said. "So I told him that today is 'Opposite Day.' If Ben said, 'first post' I was going to go to the second post."
 
Lewis said multiple levels of communication can be a benefit.
 
"Our international players respect the fact that the team communicates in English," he said. "But it's also not disrespectful, and maybe more effective, if say our Spanish-speaking players communicate in Spanish sometimes. Sometimes I'll tell Yannick, 'Hey, tell Ben this,' and Yannick will say it in German. It's good to hear something conveyed in a language you better understand."
 
Though they didn't know each other until Brill joined the program last year, they have similar stories of taking the plunge and heading to America to continue playing soccer while attending college. It's nearly impossible for many Europeans to play sports while attending college, quite different than the United States. And yet, there was a small bit of doubt.
 
"The night before my flight, I was thinking, 'I'm actually going to the U.S. for half a year tomorrow,'" Brill said. "But as soon as I landed and I met some of the guys, I felt really welcomed."
 
Said Schad: "It was scary. I was 18, and it was the first time I left home. My mom always did everything for me, laundry and cooking. My English was pretty bad back then, too. My last English exam was really bad. I was sitting on the plane wondering, 'What am I doing?'"
 
But joining a team in general, and one filled with international players in particular, made the transition fairly seamless for each.
 
"The first few weeks were tough, because you're a little homesick," Schad said. "I didn't talk much at the beginning. But it's easier for us because the soccer team is close. Once I landed I knew I had friends immediately, other players who would help me. That's easier than other international students who come here and know no one and have to talk to other people to make friends."
 
The MSU Denver players, who have combined to go 5-6-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, will band together once again this weekend.
 
The Roadrunners played the same two opponents at the Regency Athletic Complex two weeks ago, winning 4-1 over South Dakota Mines (2-8-1, 1-6-1) on Oct. 4, and then coming back and stunning Colorado School of Mines (8-2-2, 6-0-2) in a 1-1 tie on Oct. 6.
 
The order is reversed this weekend, with Colorado School of Mines up first.
 
"Mines is probably disappointed that they didn't pull that one out and they probably think that we were lucky," Lewis said. "Yeah, they shot a lot on us and they had a guy drive a great solo goal. Ours was a great soccer goal. So we didn't score on a fluke, and I think the game was back and forth.
 
"I think it's going to be a physical chess game. They have more pieces they can use, but it's going to be about how we use ours. I'm sure Mines will be very motivated to put the game away earlier. We'll be run at heavily. I don't doubt that they will outshoot us, but I don't think necessarily that they will outplay us."
 
Said Brill: "I thought that, especially in the second half and overtime, that we played pretty well. We created some chances. Even though we're playing on their field, I really think we can get something out of the game – even if it's just a point."

MSU Denver picked up three points last Sunday, when Schad scored the game-winning, overtime goal for a 2-1 victory at Adams State. Brill scored the game-tying goal against Colorado School of Mines the previous Sunday.
 
As German players, they've noted the difference between the traditional German style and the American college game.
 
"The German team is known for its passing," Schad said. "Here it's more physical, more long balls, more challenges in the air. I didn't realize how important corners were until I came here."
 
Brill has scored two goals on headers off set pieces and another with his foot – and Schad has picked up an assist on all three goals.
 
"The German game has changed in recent years," Lewis said. "It was always gritty, precise, physical, technical. Both of those guys are big guys. They drive the ball quickly, with the pass and getting up field – which has always been the German style. But in recent years I think the German style has included being possession-oriented, being quick in transitions. And those two guys represent both of those areas."
 
Lewis said recruiting German players will continue to be of interest for the program.
 
The two currently on the roster recommend the program to their countrymen.
 
"The school is right in downtown Denver, which is a very nice city," Brill said. "And the weather is way better than it is in Germany. I think a lot of Germans like that fact that there's so much going on around the city."
 
Said Schad: "The business program is really good here, and we knew that, because it has the accreditation, if we came here and then go back home, the German companies know what the degree is worth."
 
Now housemates with players from the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands, Schad and Brill couldn't be more pleased with how things have turned out for them at MSU Denver.
 
"It was one of the best decisions I've made," Brill said. "Especially when I go home and see friends who stayed and went to university there. It just seems a little boring to me."