DENVER – Progress comes in increments, and for the MSU Denver men's soccer team, Sunday's 1-0 loss to Colorado School of Mines in a battle for first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference the progress was indeed measurable.
 
"Even though it's a loss, I think it's something that helps us, knowing that we can compete with the best teams in this conference and we're right there with them," midfielder Noah Hannula said.
 
Mines, which improved to 7-3-2 overall and 4-0 in the RMAC, scored at 57:24.
 
MSU Denver dropped to 8-2-2 and 2-1-1. The Roadrunners were coming off a Friday-night win, while Mines hadn't played since Wednesday.
 
"We started the second half on a lull and that's when they got their goal," Kirchhof said. "The positive thing is that we can improve that. That's a mindset and a mentality."
 
 Mines had a 24-4 advantage in shots and a 7-2 margin in shots on goal, but the Roadrunners were in the match to the end trying to generate chances.
 
Mines improved to 7-0-1 in the last eight meetings between the teams, but the result was a far cry from the Orediggers' wins of 5-1 and 4-0 in the last two games of the series.
 
"We thought this was an opportunity to compete with the best," Kirchhof said. "I'm pleased overall. Stats-wise it looks lopsided, but I don't think that shows how intense of a game it was. I think if we can just take one or two more chances and actually shoot, put it on target … I think positive things will happen."
 
Said Hannula: "It was a good fight all around, it's just sharpening little things up and playing the full 90. Every single minute has to be 100 percent.
 
"We didn't come out flying in the second half and that's kind of what let us down."
 
Ross Miller had a couple of spectacular saves to keep the Roadrunners in the game.
 
"We had very good penalty-box defending," Kirchhof said. "Ross made a couple of incredible saves like he always does. I think we could still do better though."
 
Ultimately, though, the Roadrunners couldn't get the equalizing goal.
 
"We need to take more chances, take more shots," Kirchhof said. "We turned up decent opportunities, but we would try to get an extra touch and an extra touch. Credit to them, they were sharp, they defended well, and they didn't give us that extra time.
 
"It's a good learning opportunity for us. We've got to be the aggressor and we can't sit back and defend the whole time."