DENVER – Some ties are better than others.
Disappointed that it had to settle for a tie last Sunday against winless Western Colorado, MSU Denver executed well Friday and ultimately played to another tie, this one 0-0, against Dixie State.
MSU Denver and Dixie State are tied for fourth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with eight points.
"At the end of the day, we didn't concede a goal," Metropolitan State Univeristy of Denver coach
Tracy Chao said. "We got a point against a good team, another top half of the conference team. To get a point was probably a fair result."
Both teams were impressive at times in knocking the ball around but still combined to put just five shots on goal. MSU Denver had two of its three shots on goal in the extra periods, with Dixie State goalkeeper Adelle Brown denying
Elli Zimmer on a sliding tackle in the 93
rd minute and then just deflecting a long-range shot from
Hailey Mazzola from outside the penalty box with just under two minutes to go.
"I'm not sure either goalkeeper was really challenged," Chao said. "We maybe had the best chance on Elli's 1 v. 1 with the goalkeeper. "
Erica Torres made two saves in posting her 23
rd career shutout for MSU Denver.
Torres said the Roadrunners (3-5-2 overall, 2-1-2 RMAC) take some comfort in the energy they showed.
"Having all the pieces together, being hungry and wanting it as soon as the whistle blew was amazing to see," Torres said. "K.K. (
Mackayla Duerksen) was up top smashing girls, disrupting their play and allowing Adi (
Arantxa Melendez) to get up top and move around."
Dixie State (4-1-3, 2-0-2) had a 12-9 advantage in shots, including 7-0 in the second 45 minutes.
"I thought the first half we were a little bit more composed," Chao said. "We had a lot more room to play. We found ways to expose them a little bit. But they made some adjustments and put us under a little more pressure. We didn't problem-solve as well as we needed in the second half."
The Roadrunners' depth was on display once again.
"We played 23 players, so the energy and the ability of players to continue to come in and execute what we wanted to do and implement our plan was pretty cool to see," Chao said. "That shows how deep we are, with our fight and our mentality."
MSU Denver returns to Homecoming Weekend action at the Regency Athletic Complex when it plays host to Westminster (4-2-2, 1-2-1) at noon Sunday.
"Our focus now is on Westminster, to try to get three points at home on Sunday against another good team," Chao said.
Said Torres: "We're pumped and we're hungry."
