DURANGO, Colo. – The MSU Denver men's soccer team pulled a big point out of Sunday's game at Fort Lewis, playing the first-place Skyhawks to a 1-1 draw.
 
Midfielder Noah Hannula scored on a direct free kick from about 30 yards away at 47:02 to put the Roadrunners in front. Hannula's shot actually bounced before crossing the goal line.
 
"It was a great set piece," MSU Denver coach Nick Kirchhof said. "What we want to do is create chaos in the box, with a lot of runners passing in front of the keeper, and that's happened. That made the keeper hesitate for just a second, and the shot was already on target. It was executed perfectly."
 
But the Skyhawks tied it at 60:20.
 
"We were very good in the first half," Kirchhof said. "We possessed it well and limited them, chances-wise, massively. In the second half, we got the goal, and everyone was on a great high. But after that the momentum swing their way, we struggled passing, and we had to fight and compete.
 
"Fort Lewis probably deserved a goal, but unfortunately the ball fell to a guy nicely at the top of the box and he was able to shoot it."
 
MSU Denver is now 6-7-3 overall but 4-3-1 for 13 points and a fifth-place tie in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while Fort Lewis is now 9-3-3 and 5-1-2. Fort Lewis had won a non-conference game against the Roadrunners 2-1 in Denver on Sept. 24.
 
MSU Denver took seven shots to Fort Lewis' six, and each team put three shots on goal.
 
"Overall we fought well, played some great stuff, and found a way to get a result on the road," Kirchhof said. "That's back-to-back weekends with good performances (the Roadrunners are 3-0-1 in those games), and that should give us a lot of confidence going into the last week of the season. We're playing our best stuff right now."
 
MSU Denver plays host to Colorado School of Mines on Wednesday at 6 p.m. – those teams are tied for fifth – and then wraps up the regular season Friday at 6 p.m. on Senior Night at home against Colorado Christian.