It was the second win over a top-25 team in the past week for the Roadrunners, who improved to 6-2-1 overall and 4-1-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. CSM fell to 6-2-0 and 4-1-0.

Metro State had a 1-0 lead at 32:04 when T.J. Thiebaut scored his first career goal, flicking a shot over the Mines goalkeeper after taking a pass in the center of the box from Scott Grode.

The Orediggers took control the last 20 minutes of regulation. A shot by Philip Wilson nearly tied the game in the 73rd minute when his shot from just outside of the right post hit the crossbar.

CSM had two point-blank chances in the 80th minute, but goalkeeper Issa Bissau came up with two spectacular saves in succession to keep the Roadrunners in front. He made two more saves over the next two minutes.

The Orediggers drew a foul near the Metro State bench in the 89th minute, setting up a free kick by Alex Nass. His serve into the box found Sean Helster’s head for the equalizer.

In overtime, CSM had a corner kick 34 seconds before the final goal. Metro State regained possession after the corner and Grode worked the ball up the left sideline. He crossed it back to Brenden Hughes, who dribbled down to the right post to set up Herschberger for the goal.

It was Herschberger’s second game-winner this season and fourth of his career, first in overtime.

Bissau made a season-high nine saves for the win.

Next Up: Metro State will play at Adams State at 3 p.m. on Friday.

The game, which started in Golden at 7:30 p.m., looked like it could stretch into days before someone found a difference maker. In the end, it was the Roadrunners who found the goal and garnered a critical 1-0 road win in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.

In the end, it was two substitutes connecting for Metro State. In the 106th minute, Karisa Price chested in a corner kick from Nicole Pollack. Amy Hegarty, who had three saves for the Orediggers, couldn’t get to the ball in time to prolong the match.

Danielle Quigley had three saves for the Roadrunners. She also benefited from some defensive help when a Kelsey Neal header in the 25th minute eluded Quigley, but it was knocked off the line by ‘Runners defenders.

It was fitting that Price would get the goal. After entering the game in the 29th minute, Price fired four shots — the most of any player — including one off the post in the 32nd minute.

For the ‘Runners, it was a bit of a redemption after falling to Regis University 2-1 on Wednesday. Metro State had started the season on a six-game unbeaten tear, but had not played on the road until losing to Regis.

Friday was a step up for both sides. The Orediggers and the Roadrunners are both ranked in the top 10 in NCAA Division II women’s soccer.

In the end, it was the unranked Roadrunner men delivering a 4-0 thrashing of No. 16-ranked Regis, while the No.6-ranked Roadrunner women fell to the Rangers for their first loss of the season.

‘Runners 4, Rangers 0: For the men, Scott Grode started the scoring in the 15th minute, putting in a rebound of his own missed shot after Brenden Hughes passed him the ball in the box.

Marc Herschberger crossed a ball from the right side to Grode in the center of the box in the 30th minute and Grode headed it in to push the lead to 2-0.

The Roadrunners added one in the 60th minute. T.J. Thiebaut stole the ball near the top of the box and passed it to Kevin Pocalyko who was running toward the net from the left side and Pocalyko scored his second goal of the year.

Pocalyko found the net again eight minutes later after a free kick led to a scrum in front of the net.

Issa Bissau made three saves to earn the shutout for Metro State.

Superlatives: The win snapped a five-game winless streak for the Roadrunners against Regis, with the last win coming in 2008. The two teams played to four straight ties until Regis won 2-1 in overtime in October last fall.

It was also Metro State’s first victory over a ranked team since defeating No. 25 Fort Lewis on Oct. 15, 2010. Plus, it was the first win against a ranked team on the road since 2009.

Rangers 2, ‘Runners 1: It was the opposite story, as Regis rallied to take down the nationally ranked Roadrunner women.

The Rangers took a lead 15 minutes into the game when Taylor White connected on Rachel McMahon’s corner kick.

Metro State finally earned an Abby Rolph penalty kick in the 62nd minute when a Metro State cross into the box was touched with a hand. Rolph’s goal evened the score at 1-1.

Regis scored the winner in the 75th minute when Marissa Davis’ pass from the right sideline found Meghan Stuart for a 1-on-1 with goalkeeper Danielle Quigley. Stuart finished the scoring with a shot to the upper-right corner.

Streaking: The Roadrunners defeated Regis in 20 straight games between 2002 and the 2010 season. The Rangers have now won three straight against the Roadrunners, all by one-goal margins.

On Sunday, the ‘Runners improved to 6-0-0 with a 1-0 victory over New Mexico Highlands. Metro State hasn’t gone without a blemish this far in the season since the ’06 squad won its first 12 matches of the year.

This time, the goal came early as Carly Nelson scored in the 11th minute when she took a pass from the Aubrey Fondy on the left side, dribbled toward the center of the field and fired a shot from the top of the box for the game’s only goal.

Neither side would score again, but Kelci Newlin nearly doubled the margin with a shot from the center of the box that led to a diving save by NMHU goalkeeper Bianca Contreras.

Cowgirl Julissa Rodriguez had two chances to tie the game late. She blasted a free kick from 25 yards out just over the crossbar in the 79th minute and missed from the right wing in the 87th minute.

Roadrunner goalkeeper Danielle Quigley made two saves to earn her second shutout this season.

Next Up: The Roadrunners will travel to Regis University for an afternoon game on Wednesday.

The Roadrunners improved to 5-0-0 overall, while ASC fell to 3-2-0.

The Grizzlies came out on fire, with Autumn Boyer giving Adams State a 1-0 lead at 3:18.

Metro State rallied to take a 2-1 lead at halftime, tying the game at 38:19 on an own goal after Nicole Pollack’s shot from the top of the box was deflected into the net by an ASC defender. Abby Rolph scored the go-ahead goal just three minutes later, creating a turnover near the top of the box as she intercepted a pass back to goalkeeper Christine Stemple, then dribbled around Stemple for a wide open net.

The score remained 2-1 until Taylor Nicholls received a pass in the middle of the box after two quick passes from Carly Nelson and Aubrey Fondy. Nicholls dribbled around the charging Stemple for another wide open net at 65:30 for the 3-1 lead.

Nelson blistered a shot from the top of the box just over the crossbar at 69:01 and Marie Ipock was stopped from point-blank range in the 75th minute. The Roadrunners finally pushed the lead to 4-1 when Kelci Newlin scored on a floating shot from the top of the box off Rolph’s corner kick at 74:57. Newlin, who subbed in for the injured Hayley Renko in the 13th minute, was playing her first game of the season.

Nicholls iced the game at 86:57, putting in a rebound after Brandi Farley’s shot from the near-left side of the box was deflected to Nicholls in the center of the box.

Next Up: Metro State will host New Mexico Highlands at noon on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on kmetradio.org.

Metro State men 2, University of Mary 2: Nikola Nikolic headed in a throw-in with 25 seconds left in regulation to force a tie for visiting University of Mary (N.D.) at Metro State on Sunday. The Roadrunners slipped to 1-0-1 this season, while Mary moved to 0-1-1.

Scott Grode scored his fourth goal of the weekend at 32:16 to put Metro State ahead after taking a long pass from Chris Yoder. Grode took the pass at the top of the box as the goalkeeper charged out and over ran the ball, leaving an open net for Grode.

Aaron McElwee opened scoring in the second half at 54:02, tying the game with long shot from the deep left wing. His shot, which was headed right for goalkeeper Shailer Thomas, was deflected by a Metro State defender just past Thomas.

Marc Herschberger then put the Roadrunners in front 2-1 at 76:48. A Mary defender’s clearing attempt went to the center of the box where Herschberger one-touch side-kicked the ball into the top of the net.

Nikolic nearly won the game in the final seconds. Metro State committed a foul 40 yards away from the net with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. The referee then stopped the clock and put four seconds on the clock and Nikolic’s free kick went on goal, but Thomas made the save in the upper right corner of the net as time expired.

Next Up: Metro State will play at St. Martin’s (Wash.) on Thursday evening.

Metro State men 8, Upper Iowa 1: The weekend got off to a promising start for the Roadrunners.

Grode recorded his first career hat trick on Friday evening, leading Metro State men’s soccer to a season-opening 8-1 victory over Upper Iowa at home. The Peacocks fell to 0-1-1 this season.

Grode had four two-goal games entering Friday, but found the net three times. Sophomore Carlos Mendez netted his first two-goal against Upper Iowa as well.

Yoder opened the scoring 18:51 into the contest, firing a shot from the top of the box after taking a pass from Ryan Warren. Warren assisted on another goal less than a minute later as Mendez scored his first goal of the game.

Grode got into the books at 23:58 ripping a free kick from 25 yards.

Brenden Hughes scored a goal at 35:10 and Scott Crawford at 38:39 as five different players found the net in the first half for the Roadrunners.

UIU finally scored at 57:19 after a long breakaway as a Metro State defender misplayed the long pass from Peacock midfielder Tony Varnava, allowing Derek Oelmann a clear path to the net.

Grode scored the next two goals at 62:11 and 67:02 before coming off the field for the final 21 minutes. Mendez added a goal at 83:25, a header off Kevin Pocalyko’s corner kick.

Metro State 6, McPherson College 1: The Roadrunner women had to wait a little longer to get their rout, but cruised to victory over a Kansas side on Sunday.

The Roadrunners improved to 2-0 this season, while McPherson dropped to 1-2.

Hayley Marsh finished a scrum in front of McPherson’s net in the 24th minute for the early 1-0 lead. But the Bulldogs answered back three minutes later as Stachea Perea drilled a long shot that brushed the top of the bar and went in past Metro State’s goalkeeper to even the score. The slow-paced attack for the Roadrunners continued into halftime as the game remained tied 1-1.

Becca Medina broke the tie on a set piece off a free kick from 30 yards out at 60:40. Less than five minutes later, the Roadrunners pushed the lead to 3-1 off an own goal sparked by Medina. Her long shot banged off the crossbar, but deflected off the goalkeeper’s back and rolled into the net.

Karisa Price got into the scoring column in the 69th minute as she took a loose ball in the middle of the box, dribbled to the right and hit a soft floater over the leaping goalkeeper’s head for the 4-1 lead.

Rolph then scored her first career goal at 74:44. After receiving a long pass from Marie Ipock to the left corner, she tried to cross a ball to Price, but her cross ended up bending into the far corner. Rolph added another goal four minutes later, floating it over the goalkeeper’s hand again.

Next Up: Metro State will host Minnesota State at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Metro State 3, Upper Iowa 2: Two early goals to open the season propelled the ‘Runners to a 3-2 victory on Friday over Upper Iowa at home.

Taylor Nicholls opened the scoring in the 6th minute, heading Rolph’s corner kick into the net.

Price scored on another header just 10 minutes later, this time coming off Camilla Rodrigues’ service.

The Roadrunners continued to dominate play in the first half, but Upper Iowa was handed a penalty kick after Corrine Wronski went down on a tackle in the box. Allison Clark converted the kick to cut the lead in half.

The Peacocks tied the game at 56:41 as Jill Schechinger scored from the close right wing.

Metro State caught a break just four minutes later as Price’s cross from the left corner deflected off a UIU defender into the net.

Danielle Quigley made four saves to earn the win in her first start for Metro State.

Steven Emory makes a scissors stop while practicing with the Rapids on Feb. 25, 2011, in Commerce City. Emory, the two-time RMAC player of the year, became the first former Roadrunner to make it to the MLS. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com.)

Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Steven Emory, became the first Roadrunner to make it into the top flight of U.S. professional soccer this week when he signed a contract with the Colorado Rapids.

Emory, a 6-foot-2 midfielder from Fort Collins, finished his career at Metropolitan State College of Denver this past fall as one of the most prolific players in school history. 

Superlative Career: Emory was named first team All-America by both the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and Daktronics, and finished his career as a two-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Daktronics Central Region Player of the Year.  He scored 17 goals and had 10 assists for 44 points in 2010, the third-highest point total in school history.  In his four-year career, he totaled 99 points on 38 goals and 23 assists, ranking third in school history in points and assists and fourth in goals.  Emory finished as Metro State’s all-time leader in shot attempts (268) and second in shots on goal (135).  He led Metro State to four winning seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Metro State head coach Ken Parsons compared Emory to two other players he coached at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix who have reached MLS in Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders) and Spencer Thompson (Portland Timbers).

“If I look at those players, Steven included, and look at the vast majority of the other players that I have coached, those three players really worked at their game and really worked at the things necessary to make themselves better,” Parsons said.  “It really says something when (Metro State baseball coach Tom Carcione) is stopping by Red Rocks Amphitheater to show his girlfriend around Denver and runs into Steven working out there in December.  It shows his work ethic and desire to be the best.”

Emory was among 57 players to take part in a three-day tryout with the Rapids in January 2011 and becomes the first player in school history to join an MLS squad following his playing career at Metro State. Emory led Fort Collins High School to a state championship in 2005 before committing to Metro State, where he helped the Roadrunners to four winning seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances. Emory was also a member of the Rapids Youth Academy in 2007.
 
Other Moves: Along with signing Emory, the Rapids also re-signed Michael Holody on Tuesday.

Holody was originally selected by the Rapids in the fourth round, 59th overall, of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. He appeared in more games than any other rookie for the Rapids during the 2009 season playing in four games for 80 minutes and scoring one goal. Last season, he did not make an appearance for the Rapids before being waived on September 15. Holody finished his collegiate career at the University of Michigan as the school’s all-time leader in minutes played (6,498).
 
These roster moves give the Rapids 25 players currently under contract. All MLS club’s first team rosters are comprised of up to 30 players who are all eligible for selection to each 18-player game day squad during the regular season and playoffs.

Sunday was no exception as the two teams played 110 scoreless minutes before penalty kicks decided who would advance to the next round in the NCAA Division II women’s soccer championship.

The Skyhawks came away the winners 4-2 on PKs.

Metro State’s Sarah Tanous was the busier of the two ‘keepers, making 10 saves to Christine Schmelzle’s four as the two teams combined for 32 shots on the day. None of the shots, however, found the back of the net.

Final, with the Skyhawks leading 3-2 on penalty kicks after four rounds, Megan Striedel notched her penalty to send Fort Lewis past the Roadrunners.

Metro State ends its season at 12-5-4. The Skyhawks, 17-2-2, advance to play Winona State, which beat another RMAC school, Regis, on Sunday.

The Rangers had a 1-0 lead over Winona State during the first half that diminished during the second half when the Warriors tied the score. The game went into two overtime periods before Winona State claimed the victory during a shootout (4-2) to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

Meghan Stuart put the Rangers up when she was assisted by Marissa Davis, about midway through the first half.  This lead extended through the half and into the beginning of the second half.

Warrior Rachel Neumann tied the score at one a short five and a half minutes into the second half. However, neither team was able to reach the back of the others’ net again during the half sending the game into overtime.

The Rangers outshot Winona State in both overtime periods posting four shots to the Warriors’ two. Of the six shots between the two teams, none were game winning forcing a shootout.

Anna Evans put CSM ahead 1-0 in the first half, scoring unassisted in the 27th minute as she broke free from two Metro State defenders for a breakaway.  Metro State ‘keeper Sarah Tanous stopped a breakaway several minutes later to keep it a one-goal game.

The Roadrunners came out of halftime with control of the ball for much of the period after struggling to maintain possession in the first half.  That led to a breakaway for Aubrey Fondy in the 55th minute, taking a header pass from Aleah DeGeneres from midfield.

Each team had a couple of chances in the final half hour of regulation, but nothing led to a goal.

DeGeneres had a breakaway just two minutes into overtime, but Mines goalkeeper Briana Schulze made the save on the first shot attempt, deflecting the ball up into the air.  DeGeneres corralled the rebound, but missed high on a wide open net to keep the game alive.  She also had a shot on goal with less than three minutes left in the second overtime.

CSM converted its first two penalty kicks in the shootout. Caitlin Oliver scored first for Metro State, but Becca Medina hit the crossbar to give Mines the early 2-1 advantage after two rounds.  However, Tanous came up huge, diving to her left to save Megan Woodworth’s shot and Michael’Ann Karas scored to even the score at 2-2 after three rounds.  Fondy and Madison McQuilliams each scored on their PK attempts and kept the score at 4-4 after five rounds.  Tanous again made a save in the sixth round, stopping Aubrey Bagley’s blast to her right, leaving Ashley Nemmers as the offensive hero as she scored the winning penalty kick.

Tanous made a career-high 10 saves during the game, the most saves for at Metro State goalkeeper since 2008.

Metro State will face third-ranked Fort Lewis on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Durango for a chance to advance to the regional championship.

The Roadrunners moved to 6-1-2 overall and 3-0-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while CSM is now 7-0-1 and 4-0-1 in the RMAC.

Roadrunners ‘keeper Issa Bissau stopped all three Oredigger shots on goal to earn his fifth shutout of the season.  The Roadrunners were out-shot 14-12, but held a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal.  CSM goalkeeper Manville Strand stopped all four shots on goal from Metro State.

Steven Emory put a shot on goal less than six minutes into the game.  With the shot attempt, he became Metro State’s all-time leader in shot attempts.  Strand made another save on a shot by Scott Grode two minutes later as the Roadrunners put the pressure on early.  Metro State went into halftime with an 8-5 shot advantage, though the second half was much less action-packed with CSM holding a 3-2 shot advantage.

Bissau stopped a shot in the 99th minute as the game moved to overtime after Metro State defenders blocked a pair of shots earlier in the first overtime period.

The final extra session was back-and-forth.  Grode put a shot on goal in the 109th minute, the only shot on goal of the second overtime period.