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‘Runners get three wins in four
The Metro State men enjoyed a Friday rout, but settled for a tie on Sunday, while the Roadrunner women got a narrow victory on Friday and followed it with a goal explosion on Sunday.
Metro State men 2, University of Mary 2: Nikola Nikolic headed in a throw-in with 25 seconds left in regulation to force a tie for visiting University of Mary (N.D.) at Metro State on Sunday. The Roadrunners slipped to 1-0-1 this season, while Mary moved to 0-1-1.
Scott Grode scored his fourth goal of the weekend at 32:16 to put Metro State ahead after taking a long pass from Chris Yoder. Grode took the pass at the top of the box as the goalkeeper charged out and over ran the ball, leaving an open net for Grode.
Aaron McElwee opened scoring in the second half at 54:02, tying the game with long shot from the deep left wing. His shot, which was headed right for goalkeeper Shailer Thomas, was deflected by a Metro State defender just past Thomas.
Marc Herschberger then put the Roadrunners in front 2-1 at 76:48. A Mary defender’s clearing attempt went to the center of the box where Herschberger one-touch side-kicked the ball into the top of the net.
Nikolic nearly won the game in the final seconds. Metro State committed a foul 40 yards away from the net with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. The referee then stopped the clock and put four seconds on the clock and Nikolic’s free kick went on goal, but Thomas made the save in the upper right corner of the net as time expired.
Next Up: Metro State will play at St. Martin’s (Wash.) on Thursday evening.
Metro State men 8, Upper Iowa 1: The weekend got off to a promising start for the Roadrunners.
Grode recorded his first career hat trick on Friday evening, leading Metro State men’s soccer to a season-opening 8-1 victory over Upper Iowa at home. The Peacocks fell to 0-1-1 this season.
Grode had four two-goal games entering Friday, but found the net three times. Sophomore Carlos Mendez netted his first two-goal against Upper Iowa as well.
Yoder opened the scoring 18:51 into the contest, firing a shot from the top of the box after taking a pass from Ryan Warren. Warren assisted on another goal less than a minute later as Mendez scored his first goal of the game.
Grode got into the books at 23:58 ripping a free kick from 25 yards.
Brenden Hughes scored a goal at 35:10 and Scott Crawford at 38:39 as five different players found the net in the first half for the Roadrunners.
UIU finally scored at 57:19 after a long breakaway as a Metro State defender misplayed the long pass from Peacock midfielder Tony Varnava, allowing Derek Oelmann a clear path to the net.
Grode scored the next two goals at 62:11 and 67:02 before coming off the field for the final 21 minutes. Mendez added a goal at 83:25, a header off Kevin Pocalyko’s corner kick.
Metro State 6, McPherson College 1: The Roadrunner women had to wait a little longer to get their rout, but cruised to victory over a Kansas side on Sunday.
The Roadrunners improved to 2-0 this season, while McPherson dropped to 1-2.
Hayley Marsh finished a scrum in front of McPherson’s net in the 24th minute for the early 1-0 lead. But the Bulldogs answered back three minutes later as Stachea Perea drilled a long shot that brushed the top of the bar and went in past Metro State’s goalkeeper to even the score. The slow-paced attack for the Roadrunners continued into halftime as the game remained tied 1-1.
Becca Medina broke the tie on a set piece off a free kick from 30 yards out at 60:40. Less than five minutes later, the Roadrunners pushed the lead to 3-1 off an own goal sparked by Medina. Her long shot banged off the crossbar, but deflected off the goalkeeper’s back and rolled into the net.
Karisa Price got into the scoring column in the 69th minute as she took a loose ball in the middle of the box, dribbled to the right and hit a soft floater over the leaping goalkeeper’s head for the 4-1 lead.
Rolph then scored her first career goal at 74:44. After receiving a long pass from Marie Ipock to the left corner, she tried to cross a ball to Price, but her cross ended up bending into the far corner. Rolph added another goal four minutes later, floating it over the goalkeeper’s hand again.
Next Up: Metro State will host Minnesota State at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Metro State 3, Upper Iowa 2: Two early goals to open the season propelled the ‘Runners to a 3-2 victory on Friday over Upper Iowa at home.
Taylor Nicholls opened the scoring in the 6th minute, heading Rolph’s corner kick into the net.
Price scored on another header just 10 minutes later, this time coming off Camilla Rodrigues’ service.
The Roadrunners continued to dominate play in the first half, but Upper Iowa was handed a penalty kick after Corrine Wronski went down on a tackle in the box. Allison Clark converted the kick to cut the lead in half.
The Peacocks tied the game at 56:41 as Jill Schechinger scored from the close right wing.
Metro State caught a break just four minutes later as Price’s cross from the left corner deflected off a UIU defender into the net.
Danielle Quigley made four saves to earn the win in her first start for Metro State.
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