Box Score DENVER, Colo. - The #5 Regis University men's soccer team (8-1-1, 5-1-1 RMAC) tangled with the UC-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions (5-4-1, 4-2 RMAC) in a goal-fest that found the visitors on the winning end 4-3, snapping Regis' nine game unbeaten streak.
In a very unusual performance for the Rangers, the defense struggled to find their way conceding a season-high four goals in today's match. RU got on the board first as senior
Jacob Lever cruised down the left flank, receiving a pass from redshirt-freshman
Joe Mansfield in stride, leaving the defenders in the dust and slotting a low-driven shot into the net for the game's first goal in the 6
th minute.
UCCS would counter with a goal of their own in the 18
th minute, and then again in the 29
th minute to take a 2-1 lead. However, freshman
Porter Milner connected with senior
Tom Grimley on a long free kick tying the game at two goals apiece after 33 minutes of play.
The tie would not remain for long as the Mountain Lions netted their third goal of the game one minute later and would hold onto the 3-2 lead heading into halftime.
Both teams scratched and clawed their way through the second half, but Regis was able to net the equalizer as redshirt-junior
Eduardo Belmar took a pass from Milner in the box and buried the shot in the 78
th minute, breathing life back into the Rangers with only 12 minutes to play.
The visitors got the final word as they came through with the game-winning goal in the 85
th minute, ending #5 RU's nine game unbeaten streak. Both sides took 16 shots in the match but the Mountain Lions were able to put two more shots on goal by a final count of 9-7.
As a team Regis combined for five total saves, with sophomore
Chase Webert making three of the saves and two different Ranger defenders picking up the other two. The match could have gone either way as it was tightly contested, but in the end RU's defense was uncharacteristically out of sync, leading to their first loss of 2016.
The men's soccer team will return to the Regis Match Pitch in two days to face cross-town rival Metro State University-Denver (7-3-1, 5-1-1 RMAC) at 2:30 p.m.
