DENVER – As Hernan Ibarra sprinted towards the penalty box while tracking down a long pass from Parker Landry, he channeled a younger version of himself.
 
"I saw the defender was next to me and I saw the keeper come out," Ibarra said. "So I wanted to chip it."
 
Ibarra went airborne left of the goal and chipped it over the goalie with the outside of his right foot.
 
"My first couple of years as a forward, most of my goals were kind of like that," Ibarra said. "So it's something I've done, but not for a while because I've mostly been a midfielder. In the moment, I kind of went back to my old self."
 
That goal, just 1:17 after an outplayed South Dakota Mines had taken a 1-0 lead, evened the game 1-1 with 2:28 left in the first half, and ultimately made a huge difference in a frustrating but ultimately successful day for MSU Denver.
 
The Roadrunners won 2-1 after Aidan Bates' penalty kick goal at 84:01.
 
"Hernan's goal was huge," Bates said. "Because we thought we deserved to be ahead going into the break and it looked like they were going to. Hernan came in off the bench with a lot of energy. He made a great run to chase down the ball and he had a great finish. It was really good to see him get on the scoresheet."
 
Said coach Nick Kirchhof: "What's great is that he was ready for the opportunity. He took control and went for it. Without that goal, we would have been struggling a little bit.
 
"Incredible performance for Hernan today, and he jolted the team forward. He did it against Newman (the only goal in a 1-0 win on Sept. 19) as well. We need more guys who are willing to take chances and get their opportunity and run with it."
 
MSU Denver (4-5-1 overall, 1-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) had advantages of 26-8 in shots and 12-2 in shots on goal, but just couldn't break things open.
 
Ultimately, the Roadrunners were rewarded for their efforts when there was a hand ball in the penalty box.
 
"I think we were all over them offensively," Bates said. "But in the final third sometimes it just wasn't clicking. It was good that we kept persistent."
 
Bates stepped up for his fourth goal of the season and second of the weekend on the penalty kick.
 
"I felt confident," Bates said. "And today I missed a couple of chances and that was irking at me. I knew I really needed to get a goal and I wanted to step up and be confident for the team."
 
Said Kirchhof: That was a great finish from Aidan. We want guys who want to take opportunities and bury them."
 
MSU Denver has now played with the lead in seven of its 10 games, while another game was a 1-0 defeat.
 
"RMAC games are always going to be tough when you're playing for points," Kirchhof said. "I had a feeling we were going to have to break down a set defense. We did some decent things, but we didn't have that killer instinct today. We were looking for somebody else to try and finish the game instead of taking control.
 
"I'm pleased that we got the result, but we've got to keep getting better and keep doing our jobs all the time. Right now we're picking and choosing moments that we want to work. And if we do that, we let things go out of our control."