MSU Denver men’s soccer struggled to respond to the pressure from Regis University and lost 4-0 Sept. 14 at Auraria Field.
“We knew they were going to be good and I think we just weren’t ready for the pressure they brought,” junior defender Andrew Mejia said. “We saw a lot of their players coming at us and we were just trying to absorb it.”
Defender Taylor Diem scored first for the Rangers at 22:34 off a pass by midfielder Jason Boyle from the left wing.
MSU Denver senior forward Marc Herschberger received a yellow card in the 28th minute of the game, the first of three the Roadrunners received. The continued pressure by the Rangers had the Roadrunners playing a physical game that forced some fouls.
“As a unit of a team we didn’t come out and work right and they took advantage of it,” MSU Denver senior goalkeeper Shailer Thomas said. “They work well off the ball and have good combinations in the middle of the field.”
MSU Denver head coach Ken Parsons agreed his team struggled in the middle of the field.
“I thought our defense was put in a lot of situations that we didn’t deal with very well,” Parsons said. “I think it all stems from the fact that our midfield didn’t do a lot of work, and when our midfield doesn’t do a lot of work our defense is going to be under a lot of pressure.”
Ranger midfielder Justin Ortinau sent a long pass to Ben Fredrickson who scored in the 44th minute. The Roadrunners went into halftime down 2-0.
“I didn’t tell them anything different at halftime,” Parsons said. “We knew exactly what we were going to be encountering.”
The Rangers continued applying pressure on the Roadrunners in the second half doubling their shots from five to 10, while holding the ’Runners to only five shots in the half.
Thomas allowed Regis to get a third goal in the 53rd minute. Regis midfielder Adam Tormoehlen headed the ball into goal off a cross from teammate midfielder Alex Tarnoczi.
The final Regis goal was from a penalty kick by midfielder Logan Miller in the 67th minute.
“As a goalkeepers standpoint, it’s a fifty-fifty chance they will score,” Thomas said. “I just guessed the wrong side.”
The Roadrunners were coming off a couple of good offensive games but the pressure from the Rangers in all areas of the field held the ’Runners to a total of 12 shots.
“I think it stems from the fact that our possession was not good today,” Parsons said. “We couldn’t connect on passes, even the easy passes that we should have connected on.”
Parsons gave credit to the Regis team.
“They made us play quickly and we didn’t play quickly very well,” Parsons said. “Until we figure that out we can just expect to see more of the same.”
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