DENVER – The MSU Denver men's soccer team's four seniors went off as winners in their final home game on Friday, a 1-0 victory over Colorado Christian.
 
Now the question is, was it their last collegiate game?
 
"We still need a couple of things to fall our way hopefully," MSU Denver coach Nick Kirchhof said. "But what I like best is that we took everything that was in our control today and we controlled it."
 
The Roadrunners improved to 7-7-4 overall and 5-3-2 for 17 points in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Their 17 points actually put them third in the RMAC standings for the time being, but everyone else in the league has one regular-season game remaining on Sunday, while the Roadrunners have completed their regular season.
 
In order to qualify for the RMAC Tournament as one of the top six teams, MSU Denver will most likely need Regis to tie or beat UCCS on Sunday. Another scenario that would put MSU Denver in the tournament would be if Colorado Christian were to tie or beat Colorado School of Mines, or lose by only one goal. And, in the realm of never-say-never, an Adams State upset of Westminster (a tie or win), or a win by South Dakota Mines over CSU Pueblo, should also put MSU Denver in.
 
Wins by UCCS, Mines and Westminster would drop the Roadrunners into a sixth-place tie with Mines. MSU Denver has a plus-4 to Mines' plus-2, so the Roadrunners would qualify if Mines wins by only one goal. Should Mines win by three, it would have the goal differential advantager. If Mines were to win by two, its goal differential would be plus-3 like MSU Denver's, and the next tiebreaker is total goals in league games, and Mines already has five more than MSU Denver.
 
A UCCS-Regis tie, and a Mines win, could create a three-way tie for fifth at 17 points and that appears to favor the Roadrunners, who beat UCCS and tied Mines (for four points). Mines tied against both teams (two points) and would appear to have the advantage for sixth in that scenario, while UCCS would have only point against the tied teams and would be knocked out.
 
"We're hoping that this is enough," MSU Denver midfielder Noah Hannula said. "We want to play as many games as possible. Come playoff time, I don't think we fear any opponent. In a playoff game, I like our chances against anybody."
 
MSU Denver is now 4-0-2 over its last six games, in part thanks to Hannula, who blasted his third goal of the season when the ball fell to him at the top of the box at 27:57.
 
"I just saw it rolling out the top of the box and I kind of looked around and thought, 'Nobody is around here. All right, let's have a crack,'" Hannula said. " … Just get it on target, give it a chance, and it worked out."
 
That seems to be the typical launchpoint for most, if not all, of Hannula's seven career goals.
 
"Noah can strike a ball so well," Kirchhof said. "And in those moments, if it falls to somebody, you want it to fall to Noah. That's an incredible strike. I'm jealous. I never hit one of those goals in my life. I wish I had one on film. Noah has so many of those on film."
 
Prior to the game, goalkeeper Ross Miller, forwards Aidan Bates and Tanner Stevenson, and midfielder Logan Hitzeman were all honored in the Senior Night ceremony.
 
"The guys in front of me have been brilliant," Miller said. "There's been a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but the boys never stopped fighting. They've always kept going to the end, and that was shown again tonight."
 
Said Bates: "I've loved every minute of it. The biggest part is, the boys that you go through it with every day are the reason that you show up and do the things that you do. It's a credit to them. They've all been amazing."
 
Now comes the waiting.
 
"I really like the fight and the resolve that we've shown at the end," Kirchhof said. "To go unbeaten in our last six in a very tough conference, I'm very pleased with that. Now we just have to sit and wait. It's a weird position. I've never been in this position where we're done before everyone else is.
 
"But I'm really proud of the boys and how they've responded and how the season went. There were ups and downs, but toward the end we've been playing some of our best stuff and we've been peaking at the right moment."