DENVER – The MSU Denver women's soccer team is looking out for No. 1 this week.
 
NCAA Division II's top-ranked UCCS, that is.
 
The Roadrunners' lone game this weekend is a 4 p.m. road contest Saturday against the Mountain Lions.
 
"It's going to be a test for sure," forward-defender Jordan Lewis said. "We didn't play like we had hoped on Sunday (in a loss to then No.-14 Colorado School of Mines). Now it's another good opponent. It's going to be a physical match. But I think we just need to come out and play our game and finish our opportunities."
 
Finishing opportunities is one reason why Lewis, a long-time fixture at defender, has moved to forward for the Roadrunners. She has made three starts up top, and she scored both goals in the Roadrunners' 2-1 victory at Colorado Christian on Friday.
 
Combined with two penalty kicks earlier this season, Lewis now has four goals this season at the Division II level. That's pretty amazing considering that in one season as an attacking midfielder in high school she scored four goals. And she estimates that in eight years of club soccer – covering hundreds of games – she scored perhaps four of five goals.
 
"I'm not used to scoring goals," she said.
 
But when the Roadrunners were frustrated about an overall lack of scoring early in the season, coach Tracy Chao decided to give Lewis a try at forward.
 
"When you're recruiting, as much as you're looking for players in positions, I'm looking for players who have strengths in certain areas of the field, but really I'm looking for soccer players," Chao said. "Players with versatility. Players with the soccer IQ to be able to play wherever."
 
Lewis fit the bill for some of the things Chao was looking for at the position.
 
"She's got a good touch," Chao said. "She's strong on the ball. She's composed. She's smart. Her game and what she does is selfless. She looks to make the players around her better.
 
"She's someone who is maybe a little more gutsier, sort of fearless, and maybe someone who doesn't overthink it. When you're a forward and you're not scoring, you start to overthink. You want something so bad that it's almost harder to attain."
 
Lewis, one of Chao's first recruits, is also one of the team's captains, which the coach considered when making the change.
 
"Our captains were our goalkeeper, two center backs and a defensive midfielder," Chao said. "So they were all on the back end of our play. Being able to put someone a little higher to help lead from that perspective helps."
 
Lewis played forward, without any preparation, for the final 20 minutes of a 1-0 loss to Westminster on Oct. 6. She transitioned to playing there full time ahead of the Oct. 11 game against Adams State, a 4-0 win.
 
"She had mentioned to me before that if she could move me up she would, but she wasn't sure how the dynamic would be in the back," Lewis said of her discussions with Chao. "Then, when she said there needed to be a change (after the Westminster change), I thought, 'Oh man, I'm going to forward.'"
 
In an individual meeting, Chao formalized the plan.
 
"I was like, 'OK,'" Lewis said. "You can't really tell coach no."
 
But Lewis said she has enjoyed the change in scenery.
 
"It's been a fun transition," she said. "Definitely not the easiest, but it's been fun. As time goes on I'll get more used to it – if she keeps me up there.
 
"I try to go into every game with confidence, but I have to admit that I was more nervous the first time I played forward than I have been all season."
 
On Sunday, the Roadrunners (6-7-2 overall, 5-3-2 and fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) will try to knock off UCCS (14-0, 10-0) for the program's first win over a top-ranked opponent since 2011.
 
"They're confident right now," Chao said of UCCS. "They haven't lost a game. We have to go into the game with a chip on our shoulder.
 
"I think our quality of play is good. I think we can give them a good matchup. I believe in what we're doing. Player for player, the separation between what makes them great and where we're at is not that far. We've played them close every year and it's been close every year, and I don't expect it to be any different. It's going to be a hard battle for sure."