GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The No. 4 seeded Regis University women's soccer team (14-5-0, 11-3-0 RMAC) knocked off the No. 1 seeded Colorado Mesa Mavericks (14-4-0, 11-2-0 RMAC) in the semifinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament, Wednesday night. The Rangers' high-powered offense and stellar defensive play was simply too much for the regular-season RMAC Champions to handle. The team has officially advanced to the RMAC Tournament final.
How it Happened: In just the 6th minute of play, a poor pass from Mesa was intercepted by graduate student
Keegan Storlie in the Mavs' attacking zone. Storlie proceeded to one-touch boot the ball far upfield where the No. 2 scorer in the RMAC, junior
Kelby Kuo, was waiting. Kuo's speed allowed her to race past two CMU defenders and go one-on-one with the keeper. Kuo took her time, planted, and put the ball in the lower-left side of the goal to give Regis the early 1-0 lead.
RU's defense was the encore following the early goal. The defensive line made stop after stop and held Mesa to just one shot-on-goal before the first 45 minutes came to a close. However, as the final 45 began, the Ranger defense needed to hold strong as the Mavs sent off eight unanswered shots in 18 minutes. But, Regis' attackers didn't leave it up to their defense to put the No. 1 seed away for long, they got it done by doing what they've done best all season long - score goals.
In the 65th minute, junior
Ella Palmer got upfield and fed freshman
Sarah Wynn a beautiful cross. Wynn did the rest by getting past defenders and drilling a shot in goal, just out of reach of CMU keeper Chloe Dody's hands. With the lead at 2-0 and time running out, RU wasn't satisfied.
Pristine passing from freshman
Stella Straubing and Wynn allowed senior
Gia Lemley to put the nail in the Maverick's coffin in the 67th minute. Once Lemley received the ball from Wynn, she broke away from Mesa defenders and was in another one-on-one situation with Dody. Lemley kept her cool and promptly placed the ball in the back of the net, sealing the semifinal victory.
Game Notes: Not only has Mesa never trailed at the half all season, the Rangers snapped their nine-game home win streak.
Senior keeper
Katelyn Martin nabbed her second shutout in three games and brought her season-total to four. The keeper tallied seven saves tonight.
Kuo's two points brings her season-total to 37, which leads the RMAC.
Wynn was everywhere tonight and not a single Maverick could slow her down. The forward registered three points and now leads the RMAC in assists (12).
Although she didn't score tonight, junior
Audrey Teague kept CMU honest by sending off a team-high four shots (two on-goal).
Lemley has now scored a goal in the past four contests for Regis.
With the win, the squad is now the No. 8 team in the NCAA DII South Central region.
Up Next for the Rangers: The team will have two full days to prepare for the No. 2 seeded UC - Colorado Springs Mountain Lions. The RMAC Tournament Championship game will take place in Colorado Springs, this Saturday, at 2 p.m..
