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Regis University Athletics

Home of the Regis University Rangers
0
Colorado Mesa Mesa (8-6-1, 4-4-1)
2
Winner Regis (CO) Regis (6-8-2, 3-3-2)
Colorado Mesa Mesa
(8-6-1, 4-4-1)
0
Final
2
Regis (CO) Regis
(6-8-2, 3-3-2)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Colorado Mesa Mesa 0 0 0
Regis (CO) Regis 1 1 2
MSOC celebration
Billy Saunders, Regis Athletics

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers cap off crucial six-point weekend with 2-0 win over Colorado Mesa on Senior Day

DENVER, Colo. — Desperately needing a six-point weekend to keep its playoff hopes alive, the Regis University men's soccer team rose to the occasion on Sunday, knocking off conference perennial power Colorado Mesa University by a 2-0 final on Senior Day.

With the win, the Rangers (6-8-2 overall, 3-3-2 RMAC) vault into the sixth and final playoff spot in the RMAC standings with two games remaining in the regular season and snap a four-game skid against the Mavericks (8-6-1 overall, 3-4-1 RMAC).

"Absolutely massive win for us. We knew the importance of getting three points (Sunday) to finish off the weekend. The conversations we've had this week; we knew we probably need to win out to give ourselves a chance," said Regis head men's soccer coach, Taylor Diem. "Colorado Mesa is a tough opponent that has kind of had our number the past few years, so we knew it was going to be difficult, but credit to the boys. I thought we played incredibly well."

HOW IT HAPPENED: After weathering an early storm by the Mavericks, who held a 13-8 shots advantage in the first half, the Rangers netted the all-important first goal of the game in the 35th minute.

Junior Elias Taubo threaded a pass to sophomore Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit, who buried his second goal of the weekend and team-leading 10th of the season to put the Rangers ahead, 1-0.

"Mesa put a lot of pressure on us, so to get that first goal was crucial and we were really happy to go into the half up 1-0," Diem said. "And our message at the half was how important that second goal of the game was going to be."

The Rangers displayed that sense of urgency as they added an insurance goal just 3:35 into the second half when graduate student forward Kristian Hooker found Vilhjalmur Kaldal alone in space and Kaldal took care of the rest, blasting a shot past the CMU goalkeeper to put Regis up 2-0.

It marked the second goal of the fall for Kaldal and the 11th point of the season for Hooker.

"Villy's quality on the ball is top-tier. It's been a little bit of an unfortunate season for him this year, he's hit a lot of crossbars, so we knew it was just a matter of time before the dam broke," Diem said. "We're proud that he has stayed with it and his quality of play showed today and ultimately he got rewarded for it."

That two-goal cushion would prove important as, with 27 minutes remaining in regulation, the Rangers were forced to go down a man and play the remainder of the afternoon 11-on-10.

Colorado Mesa would fire 21 shots in the second half — 34 total shots for the game — but only managed to put 10 of those shots on goal.

Senior goalkeeper Greg L'Hommedieu stopped all 10 shots he faced to notch his second shutout of the season, playing behind a relentless Regis defense that sacrificed their bodies to block a slew of shots and kept a powerful CMU offense from getting into dangerous scoring areas.

"It was unfortunate to go down a man, but the grit and desire the guys showed those last 25 minutes was absolutely unbelievable and I can't commend them enough for it," Diem said.

UP NEXT: The Rangers will look to build off the weekend momentum and keep their quest for a RMAC Tournament bid alive when they head out on the road next weekend to square off against Fort Lewis College (6 p.m. Thursday) and Adams State University (1 p.m. Sunday).

"We'll take Monday to recover, but then it is back to work Tuesday. Fort Lewis and Adams State are two quality teams and we'll have to be good to get six points out of that weekend," Diem said. "With where we're at in the standings, those are six points we definitely need in order to put ourselves in a position where we have hopes of conference tournament play. There's more work to be done and a big weekend ahead of us."

NOTES: Prior to the game on Sunday, the Regis University Department of Athletics and men's soccer program honored 10 seniors and graduate students expected to graduate during the 2022-23 school year.

Those players included L'Hommedieu, Luca Falagrady, Kevin Cela, Lucas Durval, Michael Jimenez, Vilhjalmur Kaldal, Kristian Hooker, Anthony Priest, Sam Gardner and Ethan Willson.

"This class means so much to us. The conversation in the locker room leading up to (Sunday) was, 'Do everything you can for the seniors today,'" Diem said. "This group has been through a lot. They went through the coaching change, the Covid-19 Pandemic, and have been with me through my interim year and first two years as the official head coach. The work they've done to create our culture, get buy-in from our new players year to year, is second to none. I'm happy we were able to send them off in their last home game with a win."
 
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Scoring Summary

Scoring Summary
Scoring Team Scoring Play
34:54
Regis Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit (10)
Assisted By: Elias Taubo
GOAL by Regis Carlson-Du Toit, Rayhan Assist by Taubo, Elias.
48:35
Regis Vilhjamur Kaldal (2)
Assisted By: Kristian Hooker
GOAL by Regis Kaldal, Vilhjamur Assist by Hooker, Kristian.

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