DENVER – MSU Denver struck first, but Regis rallied for two goals and defeated the Roadrunners 2-1 Friday night in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's soccer opener.
 
"Clearly we're disappointed after going up a goal and then giving up two," MSU Denver coach Kat Mertz said. "Regis had a lot of fight. The second goal was a deflection that trickled in and that was disappointing. But we had some good moments, and our message has been consistency for 90 minutes."
 
Kailey Maness stole a pass from a Regis defender in the box and passed it over to Tessa Killmon for a goal that put MSU Denver in front 1-0 at 20:16. It was Maness' team-high third assist of the season.
 
"We knew they'd build out of the back and our players executed the gameplan," Mertz said. "Kailey just pounced on it after they played it short, and TK was there. We had talked about pressing, and overall we were able to execute our gameplan, other than one or two lapses in the first half."
 
Regis leveled the game on a penalty kick at 28:48 and scored again at 39:01. Both goals were by Natalie Bunch.
 
In the end, the Roadrunners had seven shots on goal to six by Regis.
 
MSU Denver's Brooklyn Gold score an apparent tying goal with 13:19 left, but was called offside.
 
"At the end of the day, we need to capitalize and make the most of our opportunities," Mertz said. "That's the difference in this league. You only get a handful of opportunities and you've got to be able to be more efficient with them."
 
MSU Denver, which dropped to 1-3-3 overall, plays again Sunday at 11 a.m. at Black Hills State. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 1-0 victory over Colorado Christian on Thursday.
 
"It's a tough environment, and they have a new coach," Mertz said. "We're excited to see how our team can respond to a tough game on the road after a disappointing result. They are feeling it, and they're going to have confidence going into the game, and so we'll have to find a way to instill our will. We're looking forward to the challenge."