A roundup of Friday's action in Colorado college soccer:
WOMEN
Denver 2, Kansas 1: Freshman midfielder Katy Van Lieshout hit a game-winning goal
on a free kick from 28 yards out to give the Pioneers a victory over No. 13 Kansas in the Colorado
College Invitational at Stewart Field in Colorado Springs.
A roundup of college soccer in Colorado from Sunday:
WOMEN
Metro State 1, Colorado State-Pueblo 0: What a big difference from Friday. After pummeling
the Colorado School of Mines at home two days earlier, the Roadrunners managed only a 1-0 victory
over Colorado State-Pueblo 1-0 on the road Sunday.
D.C. United players Marc Burch (pictured) and Devon McTavish will join forces with the Houston
Dynamo's Mike Chabala and Bobby Boswell for the MLS Soccer Stars tour, presented by Armed Forces
Entertainment. Running from December 2nd-13th, the tour will send the quartet to military bases in
Hawaii, Guam and Kwajalein to put on clinics for kids and adults.
Jeff Nelson of the Colorado School of Mines' men's soccer team was named Rocky Mountain Athletic
Conference offensive player of the week.
Nelson, a senior forward from Laramie, scored four goals and tallied two assists to help Mines
to a pair of victories last weekend. In Mines' 4-3 win at CSU-Pueblo on Friday, Nelson scored a
pair of goals, including the winner, and added an assist.
Kayla Mitchell scored four goals, including her conference-leading 26th of the season, as the
Colorado School of Mines women's soccer team posted its 12th shutout, a 4-0 victory against
CSU-Pueblo on Friday in Golden.
The Orediggers have shut out seven of their past eight opponents.
Mitchell gave Mines a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute, when Liz Oba chipped a ball over the
CSU-Pueblo defense.
RMAC defensive player of the week Wally Fink punches the ball away from Fort Lewis
striker Euan Purcell. (photo by George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Jeff Nelson of the Colorado School of Mines was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
offensive player of the week for games played the weekend of Oct.
Air Force midfielder Bridgett Murphy scores against New Hampshire in the 77th minute of the
Falcons' 1-0 victory on Sunday. (photo by George
Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — Air Force's Bridgett Murphy has been struggling with an ankle injury all
year.
Jesse Henderson scored in the first half and Collin Audley notched a second-half goal to lead
the University of Denver men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Air Force on Saturday at Cadet
Soccer Stadium in the regular-season finale for both teams. With the victory, Denver improved to
5-9-3 overall and finished 2-4-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation , while the Falcons fell
to 7-8-1 and 2-5 in league play.
James Copeland scored as the Regis University men's soccer team tied the 15th-ranked Colorado
School of Mines on Friday in Denver.
Regis remained unbeaten in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. The Rangers' record is 4-2-3
overall, 2-0-3 in conference.
"Whenever you play Mines, it is going to be a tough match, especially when they are ranked in
the Top 15," Regis coach Tony McCall said.
Senior Josh Rhynard scored two goals and added one assist Monday afternoon to lead the Air Force
men's soccer team to a decisive, 6-3 victory over Missouri-Kansas City at Cadet Soccer Stadium. Air
Force, which scored the most goals in one game since recording seven in the second game of the 2003
season, improved to 5-3-1, while UMKC fell to 4-6-1.
From left: Jeff Nelson, Mines; Tom Settle, Fort Lewis; Jamie Cunningham, Fort Lewis; Collin Audley,
Denver; Jarod Stigall, Denver. (photos by Tom Auclair and George
Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
I set up the All-Colorado women's team with a nearly identical intro, so if you want to skip
ahead straight to the team, feel free.
The University of Denver men's soccer team received 47 points and five of eight first-place
votes to top the 2009 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's soccer preseason coaches' poll.
The Pioneers won their first-ever MPSF championship last year and advanced to the NCAA
tournament with an 8-1-1 conference mark.
Altitude can be an advantage for Colorado sports teams, but the way they exploit it can differ.
Air Force co-captain Kevin Rosser used a quick restart to feed Zane Dydasco for the winning goal in
overtime as the Falcons defeated Army 1-0 on Saturday night at Cadet Soccer Stadium.
In the third minute of OT, Army gave up a free kick a few feet outside its penalty box.
Brigham Young scored three second-half goals Friday night to capture a 3-0 victory over Air
Force in a Mountain West Conference women's soccer game Saturday evening at Cadet Soccer Stadium.
With the victory, BYU improved to 14-2-2 and 5-0-1 in the conference. The Falcons fell to 2-14-1
and 0-6 in league play.
Very early in this blog's life, I came across "The Post," a blog authored by Ryan Noel. I made
it a point to direct whomever I could to his excellent analysis.
As you know, this blog has laid dormant for a while and will resume hibernation while I train in
Alabama with the Air Force for the next three months.
University of Denver goalkeeper Joe Willis made three saves during the shootout and all three
Denver shooters scored as the Pioneers defeated Air Force in the quarterfinals of the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation Tournament on Thursday night at the University of Denver Soccer
Stadium.
Air Force (7-8-2) scored twice in the final 15 minutes of regulation to tie the Pioneers 2-2 and
send the game into overtime.
