DENVER – Now that's how to end a season.
The MSU Denver men's soccer team came up just short in its bid for a trip to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.
But a season-ending five-game winning streak, capped by Tuesday's 2-1 win over Regis, allowed the Roadrunners to reach the 10-win plateau and finish the season as the hottest team in the league.
"We haven't had five wins in a row since 2015," senior captain
Yannick Schad said. "So this was a chance to do something special. Having 10 wins at the end of the season is big, too, we haven't done that since 2016. So that was my message, to play for MSU Denver and get 10 wins."
Said fellow captain
Danny Bautista: "We had a good record, but we didn't make the RMAC Tournament. But the players coming back have a lot to look forward to. Sending out the seniors with five wins in a row, you couldn't ask for more than that."
The Roadrunners went through Senior Day as scheduled in Friday's win over Colorado Christian but were able to experience one more home game in the matchup with Regis, a game that was twice postponed due to snow and unplayable field conditions.
"It was a bit emotional," Bautista said. "Going into the locker room, I knew it was going to be the last time I stepped onto this field as an MSU Denver player. We wanted to go out with a win, and we delivered perfectly today."
Said goalkeeper
Alessandro Gentile: "I'm realizing it's over now, and it's weird. When I actually process this, I may have a breakdown. I'm not going to lie, I'm not ready for this to be over. I would like to start this all over again from Day One."
Freshman
Jerry Gutierrez got the Roadrunners on the board just 7:19 into the game, running onto a long pass from
Ignacio Salas and then softly volleying the bouncing ball over the head of goalkeeper Tim Dolan.
The play was reminiscent of the Roadrunners' goal in a 1-0 non-conference overtime win against Regis on Sept. 13, when Salas connected on a long pass to
Jaime Gutierrez to set up the overtime score.
It was the sixth goal of the year for
Jerry Gutierrez, a candidate for RMAC Freshman of the Year.
The Roadrunners (10-7-1 overall, 8-5-1 RMAC) made it 2-0 at 77:13 with another virtuoso goal by
Gianni Steijlen, who took matters into his own hands and created an opening for himself, knocking a shot from the top of the box off the left post and in.
Steijlen had scored in similar fashion in a 3-2 win Sunday at Westminster.
Regis' Pascal von Matthey scored at 79:32, but the Roadrunners were able to avoid any further damage.
Just like against Westminster on Sunday, MSU Denver was able to defeat the RMAC's second-place team dropped the Rangers to 10-6-2 and 9-3-1. Earlier this season, the Roadrunners were the first team to take something other than a loss against first-place Colorado School of Mines, earning a tie.
"It's always great to finish with a win," MSU Denver coach
Hank Lewis said. "It's a point of pride for us that in a span of a few days that we've beaten two different teams that have held the second spot in the conference. And we were the first team to take a point off the best team. We've given notice of the kind of team that we can produce. It will still take hard work. But it's great to be on a rise at the end of the season."
