SALT LAKE CITY – The Metropolitan State University of Denver men's soccer team closed the 2018 season with a 3-1 loss at home against the Westminster Griffins.
But with Westminster again the final team on the original 2019 regular season schedule, the Roadrunners weren't going to settle for the same result.
This time, MSU Denver went for the jugular against one of the top teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The result was a 3-2 road victory for the Roadrunners (9-7-1, 7-5-1 RMAC) to push their winning streak to four heading into their final regular season match, a makeup game with Regis on Tuesday at the Regency Athletic Complex.
"Eventually we knew this day would come, for everything to click at the same time," MSU Denver assistant coach
Tyler Amerman said following the win. "Collectively, in training, we've seen younger guys mature at a rapid rate. To end the year with this only shows how much we've grown as a group and what we'll have in years to come."
MSU Denver wasted little time getting the offense going against Westminster (10-6-2, 7-4-2 RMAC), who hadn't allowed three goals in a match since Sept. 13 against Texas A&M-International.
Sophomore
Jaime Gutierrez converted on a penalty kick in the 15
th minute, his fourth goal of the season, to give MSU Denver the early lead.
Gianni Steijlen added some insurance in the 41
st minute, finding the back of the net for the second time in 2019 to send the Roadrunners into the locker room feeling good with a 2-0 advantage. Steijlen was a determined man when he gained possession, dribbling about 75 yards with the ball before a left-footed finish.
The home crowd went from disappointed to bewildered early in the second half, as senior
Yannick Schad scored goal number four on the season from a set piece exactly four minutes into the second period.
In full control up 3-0, the Roadrunners had one job for the remainder of the contest: hold the lead.
Though things got interesting in the last 10 minutes, that's what the Roadrunners did.
Westminster finally scored in the 83
rd minute on a penalty kick of its own before finding the back of the net again with 58 seconds remaining in regulation.
By then, it was too little, too late as MSU Denver escaped Salt Lake City with a very impressive road victory.
"We stayed true to ourselves in being a team that likes to attack and being on the front foot," Amerman said. (Westminster) probably would've expected a little bit of a surge from us, but I don't think they expected us to be as dominant as we were on their home field."
The Roadrunners finished with nine total shots, successfully converting on half of their six shots on goal.
MSU Denver will close out the season with Tuesday's makeup match against Regis. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. MST at the Regency Athletic Complex.
