MSU soccer team experienced two tough weekend matches but came out victorious against Colorado teams.
The first game was Friday night against Colorado-Pueblo at Rawlings Complex.
After 23 minutes of play, the Thunderwolves’ Jonny Sawyer struck a shot aimed at the top of the goal to put his team on the score board.
But the Mustangs got the equalizer they needed in the 27th minute. Senior Casey Hibbs headed the ball for senior Nathan Fitzgerald to flick past the goal keeper.
Just a minute after the equalizer, Dean Lovegrove made a throw-in for senior Ryan Spence to put away for MSU’s second and his second of the season.
Then the winning goal came in the 69th minute; Sam Broadbent supplied a through ball for Chris Dwyer to lob past the goal keeper for the 3-1 victory.
MSU then went ahead to defeat the Colorado Springs Mountain Lions on penalties.
Junior Zach Funk got fouled early in the game, thus an opportunity for Lovegrove to tuck in a penalty to give MSU the first half lead.
CSU might have put the pressure on MSU but the Mustangs never trailed.
Head Soccer Coach Doug Elder commented on the team’s game action.
“We gave the team too much time and didn’t generate as much offense as needed,” he said. “But a win is a win. We just have to finish better in our upcoming road games.”
The Mountain Lions, who recorded 17 fouls, handed MSU another penalty kick in the 80th minute.
Sophomore B.A. Catney was knocked close to the 6-yard box which resulted in the PK that Dwyer perfectly took.
The Mustangs finished with a 2-0 win against the second Colorado team.
Goalkeeper Michael Wood was outstanding in both games as he made important saves.
“On a personal note, I was happy with our clean sheet on Sunday even though UCCS took it to us for the majority of the game,” he said. “Winning is part of the expectation at MSU, we aimed for two wins and got what we wanted.”
Midwestern State will visit Incarnate Word Thursday night for the Lone Star Conference opener.
