PUEBLO, Colo. – A late MSU Denver comeback attempt came up short Wednesday night in women's soccer.
 
Trailing 2-0, the Roadrunners cut their deficit in half at 83:10 as Elli Zimmer scored in front off a corner kick by Gabriella Gamboa, but MSU Denver wasn't able to get the equalizer.
 
MSU Denver had advantages of 21-12 in shots, 12-5 in shots on goal and 6-3 in corner kicks.
 
"It was a little frustrating creating the offensive chances and not scoring goals," MSU Denver interim coach Bonnie Young said. "The encouraging thing is the chances were created."
 
Gabriella Gamboa put three shots on goal, and Miriam Caballero put two shots on goal in the final 10 seconds of the first half – the second of which was kicked away by a CSU-Pueblo defender and not the goalkeeper.
 
Like the MSU Denver goal, both of CSU-Pueblo's goals came off corner kicks.
 
With healthy goalkeepers unavailable, MSU Denver called upon women's basketball player Maggie Justinak as its netminder.
 
Both CSU-Pueblo goals were on difficult chances. A former all-conference honoravle mention player in high school, Justinak made three saves.
 
While the Roadrunners controlled play for long stretches, including for a good part of the first half while going into a strong wind, they ultimately couldn't create enough opportunities.
 
"Our team defending and game management in the second half were not good enough and we lost some momentum," Young said. "We're still waiting for the breakthrough but looking forward to starting conference play this weekend."
 
MSU Denver plays host to Black Hills State in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener at 11 a.m. Sunday.