DENVER – Comparing scores at any point of any season in any sport can always be a bit of a stretch, but one thing is for sure for the MSU Denver men's soccer team.
 
There's nothing negative to be taken from the Roadrunners' 4-0 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on Sunday at the Assembly Athletic Complex. Not when considering that the Otters were coming off a 2-1 Friday victory at Division II No. 20 Colorado School of Mines, a perennial power on the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and national levels.
 
"You check out the scores of the other teams in the conference, and we know Mines is a quality team," midfielder Bryson Chiles said. "Knowing they beat Mines and that we were able to beat them pretty handily, it gives us some confidence going into the next couple of weeks and the rest of the season."
 
Said coach Nick Kirchhof: "We're always just worried about the next opponent in front of us. But I am confident that if we come out and do what we we're trying to do and execute when we need to execute, we'll be in every game this year."
 
The win put MSU Denver at 1-0-1 after a Friday night tie with San Francisco State, the same team that lost 2-0 Sunday at Colorado School of Mines. So, in recapping the four teams' records for the opening weekend, only MSU Denver was undefeated.
 
"We know that Sundays are always different," Chiles said. "It's the second game in three days and guys are tired. The altitude could have had an effect on them. We knew they would be tired – we were too, but we felt we were more fit and stronger. We knew we had a chance, and obviously we proved it."
 
Said forward Aidan Bates: "You don't want to overthink it too much, but you know they can play if they can beat a team like Mines."
 
While Chiles had a goal and an assist, Bates got the Roadrunners' first goal, Aaron Biggerstaff scored the second, and freshman Cooper Landry made it 3-0 with a header off Chiles' free kick. Chiles capped the scoring with a penalty-kick goal. Five different players had assists for the Roadrunners, who won by a four-goal margin for the first time since Oct. 4, 2019.
 
"We're a well-rounded team this year," Chiles said. "Even the young guys stepped up today. It's good to know we've got guys who can do stuff all over the pitch. It's better that we don't have just one single guy that they have to mark up and that stops us. We've got guys who are threats all over."
 
Bates, who scored 10 goals while earning All-RMAC first team last season, scored just 5:31 into the game on assists from Tanner Stevenson and Adan Perez.
 
Dribbling niftily, Stevenson worked his way past a defender outside and to the left of the goal box. He then sent a low pass towards the middle of the box for Perez, who then found Bates back outside the left post. Bates finished with a firm shot to the right corner.
 
Of Stevenson, Bates said, "He had a nice little nutmeg and a nice little cutback. That kind of passing and that kind of play … Tanner is a big, big addition for us."
 
Of Perez, Bates said, "He's class. He's always been a really good player, and he's providing that for us week in and week out. He can help take us to the next level."
 
Perez also had an assist Friday.
 
"Guys know how to work off him and trust that when Adan has the ball, he'll find them in a good spot," Kirchhof said. "And it was a great finish by Aidan on a tough angle."
 
Leading 1-0 at halftime, the Roadrunners poured it on in the second half with goals in the 49^th, 77^th and 85^th minutes.
 
"We didn't want to sit back," Kirchhof said. "At halftime we said, 'We're still trying to press. Keep attacking. Can we make them work?' We did those things, and the guys got rewarded."
 
Biggerstaff scored his second goal of the weekend after Jonas Votaw played a corner kick into the box in front of the goal. David Pena redirected it to the right post for Biggerstaff, who buried his seventh career goal.
 
Landry, the younger brother of three-year starting defender Parker Landry, scored his first career goal on a header off Chiles' free kick into the box.
 
"I was going to run across the box to the front post, but Jackson (Vander Ven) told me to go back post," Landry said. "When the ball hit I kind of peeled off my guy, and then I rose up and hit it."
 
Said Kirchhof: "I'm really pleased for him, because he's been working hard and he had a great preseason. We were confident in him. We've been talking about that next man up – we had a couple guys banged up, Cooper stepped up, had a great game defensively and gets on the scoresheet."
 
It was the first assist of the season for Chiles, who earned All-RMAC second team in 2021 while handing out nine assists, frequently on set pieces.
 
"You've got to just put it in the spot and give our guys a chance," Chiles said. "If it's between the 6 and the PK, it gives them a chance to put it in the back of the net."
 
Chiles' goal was his first in his 28-game Roadrunners career.
 
"You've just got to pick a spot and hit it there," Chiles said of the penalty kick. "The keeper is going to be talking to you, trying to distract you, but you just focus and take the shot."
 
Goalkeeper Ross Miller also made three excellent saves, and as a group MSU Denver did well to keep the Otters off the scoreboard.
 
"We've shown that we can score, and we've only added firepower," Kirchhof said. "But we need to improve upon the commitment to defending, and what I loved today was our wide players working so hard to get back behind the ball. If we keep doing those things, we're going to be tough to beat."