DENVER – Points on the road have been hard to get for the MSU Denver women's soccer team this season, and perhaps none have presented the challenge that awaits this weekend.
The Roadrunners, 7-4-2 overall and 4-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, travel to Colorado Mesa (9-2, 6-1) for a noon contest on Sunday. Colorado Mesa, receiving votes in the coaches' national top 25 poll, has the inside track to the RMAC regular-season championship if it can win out.
MSU Denver is 1-4-1 on the road this season, while Colorado Mesa is 6-0.
"We have to play our game," MSU Denver coach
Kat Mertz said. "We have to be good. Mesa has had a good season and is playing well. When you have a team clicking on all cylinders, you have to be at your best against it."
Because MSU Denver is sixth in the RMAC with 12 points and could make a late move with three upcoming home games against teams that are ninth through 11
th in the league table, Sunday's contest sticks out.
But the Roadrunners are taking a business-as-usual approach.
"We approach every game the same, like it's a championship game," Mertz said. "I don't think you can place value for one opponent over the other, and we have that mindset throughout the week. As you get closer to November, you feel a weight and pressure upon you, so that's why as a coaching staff we treat every game the same and prepare our players that way."
Preparing for Colorado Mesa means having a plan against Lila Dere, who has 13 goals this season – three more than any other player in the RMAC and eight more than all but one league player.
"She's good," Mertz said. "Clearly we can't allow her much time and space. But the hard thing is, she drifts. We'll have to have a lot of communication and team defending."
Kailey Maness and
Jaimy Sawaged each scored two goals last weekend for MSU Denver – giving each a share of the team lead with four goals – as the Roadrunners ran past the bottom two teams in the league by a combined 11-0.
Katy Coats,
Elisa Dean and
Elli Zimmer all have three goals for MSU Denver this season, while
Annie Rolf and
Miriam Caballero each have two. Thirteen players have scored goals for the Roadrunners this season, including eight last weekend.
"I was happy for the players who came off and did well," Mertz said. "We got goals from multiple people, not just one threat, which is important. It gives everyone some confidence moving forward. Winning is fun, so you take them when you can."
While Mesa has also prepared for a Friday night game with Colorado Christian, MSU Denver has at least had the benefit of extra preparation time in its first single-game weekend since Sept. 9-12.
"Having a single-game weekend is nice," Mertz said. "The players have been able to catch up on their recovery and we've been able to focus on us and find a rhythm."
