DENVER – The MSU Denver women's soccer team wraps up the regular season this weekend with games Thursday at Colorado Mesa and Sunday at home against No. 7 UCCS.
Though the time left in the season is getting short, progress is still being made.
"It's been a good week of training," MSU Denver interim coach
Bonnie Young said. "The energy is good. I think these guys are feeling a little more like the pieces are starting to come together."
MSU Denver (2-3 overall, 1-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) is coming off a solid 3-1 win at Black Hills State.
Annie Rolf scored two of the Roadrunners' goals, giving her a team-leading four for the season.
"She was on another level," Young said. "She was running the show. She came off and said she felt sluggish and wasn't doing well – but she had just scored two goals and created a lot of offense. A lot of credit goes to Annie for being so coachable and having the ability that she does.
"She's got a great engine. And it's not just offense. She plays a big role defensively as well. She's constantly working, constantly trying to be better."
MSU Denver is getting across-the-board contributions, including those from unsung heroes such as
Jordan Lewis and
Kailey Maness.
"Jordy is the backbone," Young said. "She is just exhausted at times, and you can see it, but she fights through it. She really is a vocal leader and when she isn't out there it makes people feel a little unstable. She's such a huge part of the team that the stats will never reflect it.
"And Kailey has been a shining star. She's embraced the outside back role and done a great job. She's growing more and more each day in that role and her defensive stops, her involvement in the attack – everything is big time."
Against Colorado Mesa (3-3-1 overall, 1-2 RMAC), the Roadrunners will be facing a team coached by Megan Remec, MSU Denver's assistant during the 2019 season. Young was hired to replace her after Remec took the Colorado Mesa job, then Young became MSU Denver's interim coach when Tracy Chao took the head coaching position at Army.
"They all said they're going to be excited to see her," Young said. "It'll be a good, healthy, competitive situation. It'll be good for these guys to see Megan, but it's still a conference game and a conference game that will be a good, competitive game."
And competition doesn't get any better than against UCCS (6-0, 4-0), which has given up one goal all year and has shut out five straight opponents.
"They're talented, they're athletic and they're organized," Young said. "It's a good moment to open up some eyes, a chance to say, 'This is us, we've given everything we've got, let's see what that means against UCCS.'"
