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Schulze makes 3 saves in shootout; Mines eliminates Metro State
Mines freshman Dani Hering scores the decisive goal in a shootout against Metropolitan State College on Friday during an NCAA tournament game in Denver.
(photos by Jonathan Ingraham/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Orediggers goalkeeper Briana Schulze makes one of her three saves in the shootout.
(photo by George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
DENVER — In Friday’s shootout, things started going poorly for the No. 4 Metropolitan State College women’s soccer team on the Roadrunners’ first touch. And things started going right for the Colorado School of Mines on its goalkeeper’s first touch.
Orediggers keeper Briana Schulze got just enough of the ball to deflect Metro State shooter Becca Mays’ attempt into the post as the Orediggers set the tone early in the PK phase. Schulze made three saves in the shootout as Mines won 4-3, capping a match that went 110 minutes without a goal and putting the Golden school into the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time ever.
“I was just trying to keep really calm, take one penalty at a time, trying to figure out where they’re going and just guess right,” Schulze said. “You just look at where they put the ball down, and it’s just a reaction.”
Her reactions were true on Friday afternoon. From the beginning of the PKs, she had Metro’s number. She stopped Mays, the Roadrunners’ leading scorer, on the opening attempt, and she also stoned Ashley Nemmers and Kat Gosztyla. The last of those saves came in the sixth round of the shootout and set up freshman Dani Hering with a chance to end the proceedings.
Hering coolly approached the ball and slammed it down the middle. Metro goalkeeper Becca Maloney pushed off to her left and got her trailing right hand on the ball, but she couldn’t keep it from going into the net.
For 21st-ranked Mines, which had lost 6-1 at Metro’s home turf in September, pandemonium ensued.
“I was really pumped up because Bri had just stopped a PK,” Hering said. “I really wanted to win the game for the seniors, so I was just focusing on them instead of focusing on all the pressure.”
It wasn’t the only pressure Hering faced on Friday. She was given the unenviable task of marking Mays through 110 minutes of play. She came through with flying colors.
“Not only did she make the last kick, but she marked the best player on the other team, Becca Mays, who’s a tremendous, tremendous players. We knew if she was in that situation after chasing Becca around for 110 minutes that she was going to make it count,” Mines coach Frank Kohlenstein said. “We had Dani mark her wherever she went. Becca is a really, really smart player, and she’s able to float off defenders and get in really good places. We saw her do that again last week, where they let her alone and she drifted into a spot. And we didn’t want that to happen.”
With Hering shutting down Mays, that left the back line of Aubrey Bagley, Jessica Stark, Stefanie Frelinger and Alison Oien to focus on speedy Metro striker Jen Thomas. The Orediggers’ defense did a good job of keeping Mays, Thomas and midfielder Madison McQuilliams away from Schulze and the front of its goal.
“Jen … was basically going against three players, so in order for her to get any joy she was going wide sort of on her own because those other three players were there to pick her up,” Kohlenstein said.
Metro State, however, did have two excellent scoring chances during play.
In the fifth minute, McQuilliams played a ball in to Thomas on the left side of the Mines penalty area. She took a high, hard shot that Schulze tipped up into the air. The ball came down at the right post, where Mays headed it inches wide of the post.
And in the first 10-minute overtime, Mays and Schulze collided in front of the Orediggers’ net. The ball wound up in the goal, but referee Jose Corro called a foul on Mays on the play, negating a goal that would’ve ended the match.
Hering said it was a moment of panic, then relief.
“I had lost my mark, so I was like, ‘Oh, crap, this is totally my fault,’ ” she said. “And then Bri comes out and she gets it and all of a sudden she gets run over.”
Metro coach Adrianne Almaraz said the Roadrunners would have preferred to decide the game during the run of play. A couple of weeks ago, after losing the RMAC tournament title game to Fort Lewis College on penalty kicks, she said she wouldn’t be surprised if her team found itself in a similar situation in the NCAA tournament. She was right. What did she do to prepare?
“We hit some PKs. We did some of that stuff. But at the end of the day it’s one of those things that you can’t put them in a game-like experience with all the pressure and all the fans,” Almaraz said. “The goalkeeper had some great saves, and some of theirs hit the post. But you just never know which way it’s going to go once it gets to PKs.
“We knew we had to win on the field because once you get to PKs, it’s 50-50. You call it, a coin toss. It’s a hard way to end your season, when you’ve done so well, when you’ve had such a high goal to get back to the Final Four.”
Mays said it’s not a fair way to end a game, much less a season.
“I think PKs are the worst way to win any game. I don’t think that it shows anything that a team has,” she said. “You just play it out until somebody scores, even if it takes an hour after. Whoever wants it the most and whoever has the most heart, they’ll put it in. You just keep battling. That’s how soccer is. You don’t get to take breaks, and everyone knows that in playoffs. You just keep going. And it sucks because your legs are so tired, but that’s where the heart comes in. And that’s where you figure out who the top teams are and who wants it the most.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Schulze. She made 11 saves in the match and was the hero of the shootout.
MULTIMEDIA BONANZA: For the first time, we’re uploading our postgame interviews. Normally, I don’t do this because of my poor enunciation and ingenious use of the pause effect known as “Ummm. … ” But enough of the questions were asked by the Metro State television crew that it limited all of my mumblings. We’ll start with Almaraz. No coach wants to give this interview, but she does it with grace. Unfortunately, this process is one step too long. After you click this light blue link, you have to click on the link of the file name, which is “Almaraz” in this case. Then, once you’re on the next page, which is where the sound file is, make sure to click the little horizontal triangle at the bottom left of your screen to start listening. Whew.
AUDIO: GOSZTYLA AND MAYS: This interview is painful. Gosztyla and Mays held hands for support, and the tears flowed freely. Just listen to the sniffles, and you get some idea of how difficult it was for the two of them to discuss this match so soon after it happened. Gosztyla answers the first question, and Mays answers the question about Mines’ defense. The first couple of questions are asked by the television crew; I chime in about Mays’ header.
AUDIO: HERING: I watched almost the entire game with Hering’s father as we shot photos from behind one of the goals. I’m not sure whose smile was bigger after the match, his or his daughter’s. I think she misunderstood my question about the difference between being among the first five shooters and being the sixth shooter in the PK phase, but that’s OK. Listen to this interview here.
AUDIO: SCHULZE: I was curious to hear whether the players believe it makes a difference when Kohlenstein, who also coaches and travels with the Mines men’s team, is on the sidelines for the women’s team. Schulze gave an honest answer, but I would’ve liked to have heard more on the topic.
AUDIO: KOHLENSTEIN: Finally, here’s the interview with Mines’ coach. Kohlenstein gives intelligent, insightful interviews whether the topic is the women’s team or the men’s team or whether the outcome was a victory or a loss.
ATTENDANCE MATTERS: The official attendance was 506, and more than half of them were Mines fans. The Mines sports folks banged the drum about students getting to Auraria for the match, and did they ever. Some brought oversized red cards and yellow cards, and most brought their shouting voices. Some brought face paint, and others wore chest paint. One wore hot pink short shorts and little else. But into the second half, you could tell the Mines players were feeding off the energy of the home crowd, er, the Mines fans at Metro.
WEATHER MATTERS: Although the forecast I read called for temperatures in the 50s, I’m guessing it was in the 60s. I brought a vest, a hat and a coat just in case it was cold, but I was disappointed that I hadn’t worn shorts. It was a beautiful fall day in the Mile High City. The warm temperatures, however, melted a lot of the snow that was left over from last weekend’s storm, which made footing slightly precarious throughout the match.
UP NEXT FOR MINES: The Orediggers will face Grand Valley State at 1 p.m. Sunday at Auraria Field in downtown Denver in the NCAA quarterfinals. It is the farthest any team from Mines has advanced in any sport. Grand Valley defeated Northern Kentucky in the day’s second match. After a scoreless 110 minutes of play, the teams decided their match in penalty kicks, and Grand Valley came out with a 5-4 victory. “I’m at least glad that one RMAC school is going to be representing us in the Elite Eight and hopefully the Final Four and on,” Almaraz said.
UP NEXT FOR MAYS AND GOSZTYLA: I asked the two seniors about their soccer plans after today. Mays was direct about her desire to play professionally, but Gosztyla’s answer indicated that she may not have thought about it as much. Kat, if you’re reading this, think about it. Colorado’s Nikki Marshall might be the best player in the state, and another RMAC coach told me Mays is the best player in Division II. But Gosztyla seems to have all the tools to be a professional: size, speed, strength, powerful leg, willingness to use the body, excellent defensive skill, great anticipation. … I’m no professional scout (although I wouldn’t mind being one, if anybody’s hiring … anybody? Anybody? Bueller?), but Gosztyla is one of the best prospects for a pro career in the state.
MINES’ STARTERS: Briana Schulze, Aubrey Bagley, Stefanie Frelinger, Jessica Stark, Dani Hering, Alison Oien, Adrea Johnson, Elizabeth Oba, Kayla Mitchell, Allison Heeg, Megan Woodworth.
METRO’S 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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