DENVER – Here we go again.
 
With just two days of rest between games, and with only five days between games with the same team, MSU Denver squares off with Regis – again – in a 3 p.m. men's soccer game on Wednesday.
 
This time the game is at the Regis Match Pitch. And this time it counts in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings.
 
Ten games from now, the top six teams in the RMAC advance to the conference tournament with the opportunity to earn a bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
"We've talked about making sure we can play as many games as possible this year," MSU Denver coach Nick Kirchhof said. "We have 10 opportunities to see if we can keep playing, and that's the goal every year – to play as many games as we possibly can together. For us, this is the fun part of the season. It's such a good conference with so many good teams and right now everybody is beating everybody. I don't think you can say there's anyone who is clearly in the driver's seat.
 
"And, now that you're playing for points (three for a win, one for a tie), games are different. Tactics are different. It's a great challenge. This is what everyone has looked forward to since last spring."
 
MSU Denver and Regis met in a non-conference affair on Thursday as the Assembly Athletic Complex. Regis needed a goal with 2:08 left in regulation to forge a 1-1 tie.
 
Now two teams very familiar with one another will square off again.
 
"This is how it used to be in the RMAC," Kirchhof said. "You used to play everyone home and away, so you kind of knew a little bit more. It's tough to do. It should be a tighter game. Both teams have a feel for what the other team is trying to do. It should still be real competitive, real fun. I think we were pretty evenly-matched in the first one. Everyone will make minor adjustments here and there, but ultimately it's going to be a similar story as the other day and now it becomes who will execute better."
 
The Roadrunners, who also play at home Sunday at noon against South Dakota Mines, are hoping to execute better than in their most recent game, a 4-0 loss Sunday against RMAC co-favorite Colorado School of Mines.
 
"One thing we've talked about all year is not getting too high if we're winning or too low if we're losing," Kirchhof said. "Look, that wasn't a good performance, but we've got to have short-term memory – be ready to bounce back and ready to go. That's the beauty of getting to play games in such a quick turnaround is that you get the opportunity for redemption and to show that, hopefully, that was a one-off performance and not something that will happen consistently.
 
"Being close to home and not having to travel very much and getting a chance to play a quality opponent again, that should be exciting. We're excited to play again."
 
Regis, picked fifth in the RMAC, is 4-2-1 overall.
 
MSU Denver is 3-4-1, including 0-2-1 against teams picked in the RMAC top five (third choice CSU-Pueblo beat the Roadrunners 3-0 on Sept. 16).
 
"Regardless of what you think at the beginning of the year, it's always changing and you're always adapting," Kirchhof said. "What we're trying to do is be as much of a balanced team as possible – being able to defend well as being able to attack and score goals a variety of ways. We've done that so far, but defensively we need to tighten up and make it harder for teams to score against us – to make them work just as hard as they're making us to score goals. I think we have the pieces there, it's just a matter of getting everyone to commit to that common idea and approach and then going all out.
 
"We've played a good, tough schedule. It's not that we haven't played good competition. It's just us executing what we're trying to do."
 
South Dakota Mines is 1-5-1. MSU Denver is 11-1 all-time against the Hardrockers, with eight straight wins – but two wins last year were by slim 1-0 margins.
 
"They've battled a lot this year and have had some good results," Kirchhof said. "The best part about being in the RMAC is that there are no easy games. Everyone is capable of beating everyone on a given day. We're fortunate to have a good home game and a couple of extra days of rest before it (South Dakota Mines plays Regis on Friday). Hopefully we'll start off flying. We want to maximize points – whether we can get points at home or on the road, every one is going to count for the ultimate goal of qualifying for the RMAC Tournament and seeing where we can go from there."