PUEBLO, Colo. (September 28, 2014) – On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Pueblo, the Colorado State University-Pueblo men's soccer team picked up its first conference win of the season with a 1-0 upset victory of No. 8 MSU Denver.
Matt Marchena (Jr., Forward, Littleton, Colo.) made a breakaway down the middle of the field following Lucas Moreno Rodriguez (Fr., Defender, Bogota, Colombia) who dribbled the ball down to the left corner of the field, making a pass to a waiting Marchena who fired a shot, connecting with the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. It is Marchena's second goal of the season.
After a sluggish first half which saw the Roadrunners with possession in ThunderWolves territory for a good portion, the Pack played exceptional defense with Sam Glawe (Jr., Allen, Tex.), Jack Gonzales (R-Jr., Centennial, Colo.), and Zach Davis (R-Fr., Tucson, Ariz.) each helping the Pack in shutting down the Roadrunners.
Despite being outshot 16-13, the Pack played as good of defense as they have all season. Goalkeeper Sam Haseltine (R-Jr., St. Louis, MO) made six saves on 16 shots from the Roadrunners, earning his second shutout of the season.
"Our legs were a bit sluggish in the first twenty-five minutes," CSU-Pueblo head coach Roy Stanley said. "The goal energized us and we played better in the second half."
The victory marks the first time in six years the Pack has defeated a ranked opponent. On October 24, 2008 the ThunderWolves played at No. 18 Metro State, defeating the Roadrunners 1-0.
The last time CSU-Pueblo won against a top-10 ranked opponent was on November 5, 2004 when they played at No. 8 Fort Lewis, defeating the Skyhawks 1-0 in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
CSU-Pueblo (2-6, 1-3 RMAC) will next play Friday when they travel to Golden, Colo. to play against the Colorado School of Mines, kickoff is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
