DENVER – MSU Denver made a serious bid at beating a ranked team for the first time since 2018, but ultimately an untimely red card forced the Roadrunners to play one man down from the 63^rd minute forward and set the stage for No. 24 St. Mary's (Texas) to rally for a 3-2 victory in overtime Friday night.
 
"I thought (St. Mary's) was completely unhappy, out of sorts, really all the way up to the red card," MSU Denver coach Nick Kirchhof said. "It showed that the guys knew what the game plan was, and they executed really, really well against a team that's supposed to be in the Top 25.
 
"For me, this was a good benchmark. It shows that we're not far away, and it's got to give our guys the belief that we belong with the big boys."
 
Parker Landry, one of the keys to the MSU Denver defense, was hit with his second yellow card – meaning an automatic red card and ejection – at 62:49.
 
Forced to play with only nine field players, the Roadrunners did what they could to maintain the lead.
 
"It's super hard, especially when you're playing a good team that can pass the ball around like St. Mary's," Kirchhof said. "I think it showed great resolve that we were able to fight for as long as we did with our backs against the wall. And then we had a chance to win it, in regular time and in overtime."
 
St. Mary's got the equalizer at 77:52, then won it at 98:27.
 
There were 12 cards issued, including one yellow to each coaching staff in the 11^th minute.
 
The last was a post-game red card to St. Mary's coach Johnny Clifford, who walked through the postgame huddle where the majority of the Roadrunners had assembled just moments after a disappointing defeat, creating a brief skirmish.
 
Despite that, the red card to Landry was far more significant.
 
"It was such a great team effort," Kirchhof said. "Everyone was working hard to do their jobs. It was great to get different guys on the scoresheet, because that's what we've preached to them all preseason. We're going to need all 24 of us if we want to play as many games as we can possibly play. Everyone did his job to the best of his ability, and obviously there were some mistakes to clean up, but I couldn't be prouder of our guys."
 
MSU Denver started fast, as transfer forward Aidan Bates scored at 3:25 after Landry's service into the box was played over to Bates by Sam Funnell.
 
St. Mary's game back and tied the game at 9:04, but the Roadrunners needed only 76 seconds to re-take the lead.
 
Funnell sent a corner kick into the box and Andres Arcila Saenz skied for a header and turned it into his first career goal.
 
"We told the guys that regardless of what happens, we just want to focus on what we're trying to do," Kirchhof said. "And I absolutely loved that response. None of the guys got down on themselves, and we went back out and answered right away. And then we kept asking questions, and kept looking. Even a man down, we had some great looks."
 
In the closing seconds of regulation, and even playing a man down, the Roadrunners created a high-quality chance with a brilliant series of passes. But Aaron Biggerstaff couldn't quite get off a shot.
 
"I absolutely loved the resolve we came out with today," Kirchhof said. "I think we absolutely competed from start to finish, even with a lot of things obviously going against us later in the game. It was a great performance and something to build off.
 
"It was a tough one, with some things against us obviously, but I couldn't be prouder of how hard the guys played and how hard they worked for each other. That's something we've been trying to instill in this team and this program, and they absolutely did that."