UCCS women’s soccer had their most dominant game of the season, crushing New Mexico Highlands, 6-0.
The win against New Mexico Highlands was the second victory of a three-game winning streak for UCCS. The team set season highs in goals, shots and shots on goals at the Oct. 31 game.
The Mountain Lions established momentum right away with a shot on target by freshman forward Brooke Pavlich and a goal by senior midfielder Fie Steenberg within two minutes of the game’s start.
UCCS was able to get off five more shots before New Mexico Highlands got their first in the 9th minute. A foul by New Mexico Highlands defender Cylee Acosta led to a penalty kick for Steenberg, who slotted it into the back of the net to bring the score up 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
The first half ended with 16 shots by the Mountain Lions.
UCCS’ defense was stronger in the second half with four shots before New Mexico Highlands could get their first shot in the 61st minute, 16 minutes into the second half.
In the 63rd minute, graduate student forward Amelia McManus scored UCCS’ third goal with an assist from sophomore midfielder Taylynn Levi. Three minutes later, Levi scored her own goal with an assist from sophomore midfielder Luka Johnson to bring the score 4-0.
Two other goals came in the next 20 minutes with Johnson scoring the fifth and junior midfielder Emily Aguilar scoring the sixth and final goal of the game to make the game 6-0 for the Mountain Lions.
Pavlich led the team in shots with nine, five of which were shots on goal. Joint top-goal scorer Steenberg had six shots with four on goal. Aguilar, Johnson and McManus each had four shots. Upon the game’s conclusion, UCCS had 33 shots to New Mexico Highlands’ 11.
The team is heading into their final game for the regular season at the Mountain Lion Stadium against CSU Pueblo on Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. They currently have an overall record of 8-7-2.
UCCS women’s soccer sits in fourth in the RMAC standings with CSU Pueblo at 10th in the conference. The Mountain Lions clinched their spot in the RMAC Championship tournament with a 2-0 win over Adams State on Nov. 3.
The RMAC Championship tournament begins on Friday, Nov. 8, with a match between the no.7 and no. 8 seeds. The quarterfinals will be played on Sunday, Nov. 10. Tournament games can be watched online on the RMAC Network for a fee.
Forward #16 Brooke Pavlich led the team with 9 shots. Photo by Lillian Davis.