DENVER – Pressure is always there in coaching.
 
For veteran coach Kat Mertz, in her second season leading the MSU Denver women's soccer program, there's a different sense of urgency as the Roadrunners embark upon their second year of regular-season conference play under her direction.
 
MSU Denver opens the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference portion of its schedule with home games at the Assembly Athletic Complex on Thursday at 6 p.m. against Westminster and Sunday at 1 p.m. against Colorado Christian.
 
Westminster, picked to finish fourth in the league, is 2-2-1, while Colorado Christian, picked ninth, is 1-4.
 
"It's interesting," Mertz said. "For the scout, we already have information on Westminster – same coach, same style of soccer, just different personnel. So from that regard, yes, it's nice to have information and it's nice to be able to understand what the expectations are within the RMAC.
 
"Now the next level of that is making sure our players are ready to perform, ready to go. Now the pressure shifts from, 'It's my first year and I'm trying to figure out what's going on,' to 'now that we have a better understanding, how can we prepare our players to be able to handle the expectations in the RMAC?'"
 
Expectations may be shifting slightly around the league for MSU Denver, which is 4-1-1 and features a stout defense that has allowed only two goals all season and 14 in 24 games under Mertz. The Roadrunners this season are 11^th in NCAA Division II with a goals-against average of 0.33 and 14^th with a save percentage of .905.
 
Picked to finish fifth in the RMAC in the annual preseason coaches' poll, the Roadrunners have the league's best nonconference record.
 
"Starting off conference is exciting," Mertz said. "Playing at home is also really exciting. Westminster is a really good team, well-coached, organized. They are hard to beat. They're hard to score on. They'll come out with a lot of energy, and we've got to be able to match that and bring more."
 
As has been mentioned a time or 100 previously, MSU Denver had a brutal conference schedule in 2021, playing five of the league's top six teams on the road and losing all five, though by a combined total of only six goals.
 
That included a 1-0 loss at Westminster in the league opener. But the Roadrunners aren't focusing on this season – when all those teams come to the Assembly Athletic Complex – as some sort of redemption tour.
 
"Collectively, as a team, we have a lot of upperclassmen who already put enough pressure on themselves," Mertz said. "So for us, the goal is to be playing quality soccer – and we're starting to come around."
 
What is it starting to look like?
 
"Our backs are playing in sync," Mertz said. "We're getting our midfield rotation down and we're really focusing now on our front, attacking group. If we're playing quality soccer and walking off the field with good effort, then hopefully the results take care of themselves."
 
The recognition of the Roadrunners' defensive prowess is being recognized. Center back Elli Zimmer earned her second straight RMAC Defensive Player of the Week Award, while Kylie Bach is the league's reigning Goalkeeper of the Week.
 
"Elli has been a big member of our back line," Mertz said. "She's gotten better every time she's stepped on the field since missing the first two games. She's hitting her stride. And the relationship between the back line and the goalkeeper is really important. It's important that they can play together, that they can communicate with each other. All in all, when you look at that back line, you can tell the experience that our back line has."
 
Zimmer played all 90 minutes in each game last weekend and picked up an assist on the only goal in a win over Central Washington.
 
Bach extended her scoreless streak to 292 minutes for the season and 564 minutes for her career, as she played the final 21 minutes and made three saves in the 1-0 win over Central Washington and then had a spectacular save while posting her third shutout of the season in the 1-0 win at Eastern New Mexico.
 
Bach (3-1-1) leads the RMAC in goals-against average and save percentage while tying for the league lead with three shutouts. She is one of 11 qualified goalkeepers in Division II with a 0.00 GAA and .000 save percentage, and she's tied for 13^th nationally in shutouts.

"Elli and (center back) Emily (Sirois) have found a good working relationship back there, and of course you need the goalkeeper to be able to communicate and organize, and Kylie has done a really good job of really focusing on her communication and being engaged," Mertz said. "As a collective, the goalkeeper group and the backs, we have a lot of depth and they've been training really hard."