DENVER – MSU Denver needed only 89 seconds to corner the market.
 
Elli Zimmer and Miriam Caballero were credited with goals off corner kicks at 64:05 and 65:34, respectively, as the Roadrunners came from behind to defeat Regis 2-1 Thursday night.
 
"It's important for our team to realize that any dead ball is an opportunity for us to score," Mertz said. "Our players are hunting the ball."
 
The victory put the Roadrunners at 5-1-2 overall and 2-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and snapped a five-game winless streak against their crosstown rivals dating to 2015.
 
Regis dropped to 5-3 and 2-1.
 
In the last four games, MSU Denver has scored three goals directly off corner kicks and another while maintaining pressure off a corner.
 
"We practice corner kicks all the time," Zimmer said. "It's nice to finally get a few in."
 
Zimmer was credited with her second goal of the season – both off corners – to tie the game 1-1. Paloma Teran got the assist.
 
"We talk a lot about the service," Mertz said. "You're not going to have a good set piece if you don't have good service. Paloma's in-swinger, left foot …  it's a deadly ball. It's great service. You've got the threat of Elli and the rest of the players coming through there. So if we can put it on the goalkeeper, or put it in the mix, we have a chance."
 
Caballero scored her second goal of the season off a Gabriella Gamboa corner kick just moments later. It was reminiscent of MSU Denver's two-goals-in-17-seconds outburst against Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 19.
 
Like Zimmer's goal, it wasn't exactly a laser. Annie Rolf got a piece of Gamboa's service, deflecting it to the foot of Caballero, who tapped it in.
 
"Getting the last touch on the ball, that's what we're trying to do," Zimmer said. "Just finish it, even if it's a little touch."
 
The double dose of corner kick conversions helped the Roadrunners finally overcome an unfortunate goal against just 3:39 into the game.
 
A clearing attempt by the MSU Denver defense deflected off the head of Regis' Kelby Kuo to teammate Madison Hand, whose shot deflected off the crossbar and off Roadrunners goalkeeper Kayla Caballero before going into the net.
 
"It happens," Mertz said. "There were a lot of things that went wrong. We knew that if we settled down and really attacked the flank, we thought we could find some overloads.
 
"I'm excited for our players' resiliency. They fought back. They didn't give up. We played every minute to its fullest."
 
MSU Denver posted advantages of 15-10 in shots, 7-3 in shots on goal, and 9-5 in the all-important corner kick category.
 
"At half, we were in the locker room and said, 'We are completely dominating,'" Zimmer said. "We had the ball 90 percent of the time, and we gave up a fluke goal. We felt like we had it in the bag. We're a really strong team. And we came out and played our game. It was nice to play our game on our field."

MSU Denver is now 4-0-1 at the Assembly Athletic Complex.
 
"We've been working really hard, and we haven't lost at home," Teran said. "We stood our ground against our rival. We're good enough this year."
 
The unsung heroes, of course, have been defenders Zimmer, Jordan Lewis, Katy Harris and Kate Giordano, all of whom played the full 90 minutes Thursday.
 
"In practice, we have good attackers and defenders," Teran said. "We're challenging them in practice and making them work, and in the game it really shows. They're all very fast, and they have attacking tendencies, too. So that's really nice because you know they'll get back and they're really smart."
 
MSU Denver has allowed just five goals and only 27 shots on goal all season.
 
"Jordy is an awesome center back," Mertz said. "And they're all very calm. They're cool and collected. They play well together. Katy Harris is tough to beat on the flank. And it's nice to have Jordy behind you. It's the same thing on the other side with Kate and Elli. They play well together, and they don't even have to speak and they know what they're doing."
 
Said Zimmer: "We're just really solid in the back. We've played together for years and years. We really connect well. We just really understand each other."