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Metro State win streak climbs to 13
DENVER – Becca Mays is the type of player who makes her teammates better, and she showed it on Friday against Regis University. Mays didn’t score any of her team’s goals, but had a hand in all of them as the Metropolitan State College women’s soccer team scored three quick goals in the second half for a 3-0 victory at Auraria Field in downtown Denver.
Metro broke open a scoreless match in the beginning moments of the second half. With the Regis defense closing in on her on the right side of the Rangers’ penalty area, Jen Thomas spotted Mays a few yards away and fed her the ball. Mays quickly slotted a diagonal pass ahead to Ashley Munchiando, who was making a run toward goal from the left.
Munchiando shot back toward the right side of goal. The ball tapped the inside of the right post and went in at the 46:53 mark.
Mays got an assist on that goal, but she wouldn’t on the next one, although she was largely responsible for it. Mays executed a nice give-and-go with Ashley Nemmers in the 50th minute, and the play finished with Mays hammering a shot that Regis goalkeeper Rosie Campbell was able to deflect wide for a corner. Gabby Klipp’s corner kick went right to Maddison McQuilliams, who doubled Metro’s lead with a header.
Then Mays set up Thomas in the 54th minute. Mays split the defense with a low, line-drive header, springing Thomas behind the Regis defense. Thomas was alone against Campbell, who had little chance to make a save.
Mays didn’t add to her team-leading total of 17 goals, but that wasn’t the theme of the day for her. Take this, for example: Late in the first half, with Annie Austin waiting to enter the match to replace her, Mays was about 16 yards in front of goal with the ball at her feet.
She looked around and saw few of the teammates she started the match with; most of them were on the bench at this point, as she would be as soon as the ball went out of bounds. But Mays kept looking, and she spotted another teammate making a run in the box, someone with much less playing time than Mays or the other starters. Mays passed her the ball without a second thought.
“She knows it’s about the team,” Metro coach Adrianne Almaraz said. “She’s willing to go the extra mile as long as the team succeeds. That shows her personality. She can score goals. And in games like this, yeah, she may be marked up, but she’ll provide for other players.”
Almaraz said that type of leadership is what Metro State needed in a game against the team the Roadrunners consider their biggest rival.
“Regis and Metro is the match,” she said. “They’re always a good team, and J.B. is a great coach. Regis comes out to play us. For us to get a 3-0 game, I’m very, very pleased. For me, I’m just happy for getting the W, 1-0, 3-0, whatever it may be. Our girls were ready, and they were prepared. They were excited. I think the girls take pride that we know it will always be a battle against Regis. Fort Lewis and Mines, we will always get up for those games. But this is the game.”
Metro had more of the ball in the first half (possession probably was about 6-4 in favor of the Roadrunners in the opening period), but the Rangers were able to keep Metro off the board. The hosts did have scoring chances, but nothing like they did in the first 10 minutes of the second half. In fact, Thomas nearly knocked in a Mays cross in the first 20 seconds of the second half.
“The game was decided in 10 minutes in the second half,” Regis coach J.B. Belzer said. “We gave Metro way too much respect today. This is certainly a quality side, but we gave them way too much respct. We didn’t deserve any respect, based on how we played.
“We knew exactly how they were going to attack. We made bad decisions. We didn’t step up and press the ball in the right areas. We didn’t hold possession when we had it. And you’re going to pay the price when you’re up against good teams.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mays.
RECORDS: Metro, ranked sixth in the nation, improved to 15-1-0 overall and 12-0-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while Regis fell to 10-3-2 overall and 7-2-2 in the RMAC. Metro is ranked first in the NCAA Division II Central Region, and Regis is fifth.
WEATHER MATTERS: Sunny, breezy and about 60 degrees at kickoff.
UP NEXT:On Sunday, Metro travels to New Mexico Highlands, and Regis hosts Colorado-Colorado Springs.
PICTURED ABOVE: Mays goes on the attack in the first half. (photo by Tom Auclair/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
REGIS STARTERS: Rosie Campbell, Heidi Boersma, Heather Thomas, Kalley Mahaffey, Katie Horn, Marissa Davis, Danielle Lardner, Chelsea Reichard, Jordan Miller, Maddie Reeves, Erin Kettmann.
METRO STARTERS: Becca Maloney, Jen Thomas, Becca Mays, Madison McQuilliams, Ashley Nemmers, Ashley Munchiando, Kathryn Gosztyla, Courtney Ryan, Hayley Renko, Nicole Renko, Gabby Klipp.
George Tanner is a former writer and editor for the Rocky Mountain News; the Greeley Tribune; The Daily Independent of Ridgecrest, Calif.; the Durango Herald; and the Boulder Daily Camera. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado and an affiliate professor at Metropolitan State College of Denver. E-mail him at ColoradoSoccerNow@gmail.com.
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