UCCS played a close match against the Westminster University Griffins, as the Mountain Lions won 3-2 on Senior Day on Oct. 22.
UCCS recognized their 11 seniors: #1 Declan Domyan, #2 Nic Grotle, #5 Luke Sussex, #9 Alex Andersson, #10 Kaydon Zamora-Reeves, #11 Kolby Raineri, #18 Ben Ashfield, #20 Sybren Russell, #25 Noah Espino-Kennedy, #28 Garrett Daulong, and #29 Marvin Putu.
The Mountain Lions dominated the first 20 minutes of the match, as they had seven attempted shots against Westminster. UCCS kicked off the scoring with their first goal in the 22nd minute, as Raineri diced up the Griffins’ defense and found Ashfield for a 1-0 lead, which would hold until halftime.
In the second half, Putu showed off his incredible footwork, as he found #17 Peter Chang, for a shot that deflected off a Griffin defender and into the back of the net to put the Mountain Lions up 2-0.
In the 57th minute, the Griffins got through the Mountain Lions defense to score their first goal of the match. UCCS rebounded quickly with their third goal of the match in the 62nd minute as Putu forced himself into the box and passed to #6 Lars Walczyk, who found an open space in the lower right corner of the net.
Westminster cut the lead in half in the 88th minute after a corner kick in front of the net deflected off a Mountain Lion defender and rolled into the net. However, UCCS held it down defensively in the last 12 minutes, securing the 3-2 victory.
Overall, the Mountain Lions outshot Westminster 21-11 and doubled their shots on goal, 10-5. Ashfield and Walczyk scored their first goals of the season, and Chang secured his fourth goal.
Putu recorded his 6th and 7th assists of the season, while 21 different Mountain Lions saw the field on Sunday afternoon. Three played all 90 minutes: Uehling, Putu and sophomore goalkeeper Soren Russell.
In a post-match interview with head coach Lewis Wilcox, he recognized the seniors for their quality play. “[Just] really happy we could get the win for our seniors. Today was really about them.” Wilcox said.
We knew we had to come out flying, [and] we knew we had provided the energy.” Wilcox said. “Really pleased to see that and excited to see what happens next weekend.”
The Mountain Lions will finish their season on a two-match away trip, facing South Dakota Mines on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m., followed by the season-closing match against Regis University on Oct. 29 at noon.
