Soccer Recap: Thrilling second half sees Rams lose

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Oct 5

12:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

vs UNLV

Oct 9

4:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

vs Colorado College

Oct 12

4:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

vs Air Force

Oct 16

8:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

at Fresno State

Oct 19

1:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

at San Jose State

Oct. 12, 2014 Final Stats

By Craig Buchanan

Athletic Media Relations

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Colorado State Rams (4-10-0, 2-4-0 MW) battled blistering winds and a drizzling rain as it took on Mountain West newcomer Colorado College (7-4-3, 3-2-1 MW) on Sunday afternoon at The Lagoon. It took three goals, but Colorado College walked away as the 3-2 victor over Colorado State in an action-packed conference matchup. 

In the opening half, Colorado College controlled possession and consistently looked like the more dangerous team. Despite all of the possession though, the Tigers couldn’t muster any genuine scoring opportunities against Colorado State’s highly-regarded defense. 

After 45 minutes of play, the two teams went into the intermission tied at 0-0 and searching any sort of attack that could give them an edge. It was Colorado State’s halftime talk that proved to be more effective early going in the second half, which turned into one of the most exciting, action-packed halves that Colorado State has ever played in. 

“They clearly had the best movement of any team that we’ve played all year,” Head Coach Bill Hempen said. “I think our response in the second half was quite good though. We made a couple of errors at the end that probably took it from us, but their response was fantastic. ”

The Rams came out of the break with a completely renewed energy and attack, and relentlessly poured the pressure on the unsuspecting Tigers. Colorado State was rewarded for its effort in the 49th minute. Junior defender Jessica Stauffer dribbled down the right sideline and delivered a dangerous ball right along the edge of the six-yard box. CC’s keeper tried to come out and corral the ball, but she fumbled it and sophomore midfielder Amy Eckert was there to poke it into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Immediately following the goal, Colorado State looked primed to score a second goal as Colorado College looked out of sorts. The Rams generated numerous scoring opportunities over the next 10 minutes, but didn’t find a goal. In the 64th minute, Colorado College got itself back into the game with a header goal from Mary Bowman and a ball floated into the box by Jordan Savold.

The Tigers utilized the momentum generated from its goal and all of a sudden returned to their dominant form. CC added its second goal of the day in the 76th minute when Jessie Ayers dribbled the end line and found Kaeli Vandersluis in front of the net for the 2-1 lead.

Colorado State didn’t stay down for long, though, as it took just two minutes for it to find an answer. In the 78th minute, freshman midfielder Janelle Stone served a gorgeous ball from the left flank that found junior forward Gianna Bertana’s head right in front of the goal. Bertana angled her header for her fourth goal of the season and drew the Rams even at 2-2.

The duo nearly connected just another couple of minutes later, but Bertana’s half-volley from Stone’s cross was kept out of the net thanks to an incredible diving save from Colorado College’s keeper. 

With a tie score and 13 minutes to play, neither team looked settled to end regulation tied and head into extra time. The frantic final minutes saw both teams create incredible goal-scoring opportunities, only to see them be saved and lead into a counter attack for the other team that would nearly result in a goal. 

In the 90th minute, though, Colorado College once again broke through with a header goal from Sarah Schweiss amidst heavy congestion in front of the box. The Rams came storming right back with just 50 seconds left to play in the game and had two near chances saved off the line in the final 10 seconds of the match.

Despite the result, Hempen believes that this is something that the team will carry with them on the road in search of a pair of crucial Mountain West wins.

“Playing on the road is always a challenge,” Hempen said. “I think these kinds of results carry a bit more feeling than other ones, but you can see the difference in this team now as opposed to earlier in the year; just the aggressiveness and the passion, which is pretty awesome to see.”

Colorado State kicks off at San Jose State next Friday at 3 p.m. MT. The match will be streamed for free on the Mountain West Network. 

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