DENVER – The future is bright for the MSU Denver women's soccer team.
And for 50 minutes Thursday night against the No. 3 team in NCAA Division II, the present looked awfully good, too.
MSU Denver played Dallas Baptist even for the first half, but the Patriots took advantage of a couple of mistakes in the final 40 minutes and earned a 4-0 victory at the Assembly Athletic Complex, snapping the Roadrunners' 19-game home unbeaten streak.
"This was a great game," MSU Denver coach
Kat Mertz said. "This could be an NCAA first-round game. They have some quality players, but I thought our players showed."
MSU Denver had more shots (3-2) and more shots on goal (2-1) in the first half. But the Patriots (2-0) had big second-half advantages in shots (10-0) and shots on goal (7-0).
"Give them credit," Mertz said. "Unfortunately, we showed that we need to fight a little bit more when our backs are against the wall. I think we grew a lot as a team."
MSU Denver (1-1-1) is still looking for its first goal of the season. The Roadrunners got shots on goal Thursday from
Sami Spring and
Taryn O'Brien and had a couple of other quality chances.
"Obviously Dallas Baptist is historically a powerhouse program," Mertz said. "But I think we settled down in the first half after we rode out the first 5-10 minutes. After that ,we played. The message for us is consistency. What does that look like? Consistency in training, consistency in taking care of your body, consistency in your fitness … and then understanding how to take care of the ball when you are fatigued."
MSU Denver returns to action Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Assembly Athletic Complex against Angelo State (Texas), picked to finish second in the Lone Star Conference behind Dallas Baptist. Angelo State (1-1-1) lost 4-0 Thursday at Colorado School of Mines.
"We're not satisfied obviously, and we're hungry for Saturday," Mertz said. "It's an opportunity for us. We knew our non-conference schedule was going to be really tough. But it's a wonderful opportunity for us to show who we are, to grow, to see what that next level is like, and then to be able to apply that for the RMAC season."
