DURANGO, Colo. (November 10, 2023) - The No. 16 ranked Colorado State University Pueblo men's soccer team secured its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship after scoring a 2-0 clean sheet victory over No. 10 and top-seeded Fort Lewis on Friday at Dirks Field.

In its third straight trip to the title match in three years, CSU Pueblo was able to get over the hump thanks to a pair of goals scored by Campora. It is goals 16 & 17 for Campora.

Campora was named RMAC Tournament MVP and along with teammates Shjon Andrews (Sr., Longmont, Colo.), Reggie Nicolas (Sr., Palm Bay, Fla.), Caio Oliveira (Sr., Espigao, d'Oeste, Brazil), Ryan Nun (Fr., Broomfield, Colo.) and Dylan Zavatini (Jr., Santa Catarina, Brazil) were named to the All-tournament team.

CSU Pueblo improves its record to 15-4-2 on the year, while Fort Lewis falls to 11-4-4 this year.

With the win, the ThunderWolves earn the automatic qualifier into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The RMAC Champion ThunderWolves, along with champions from the PacWest, the GNAC, CCAA and Lone Star Conferences along with the next five at-large teams, will advance to the postseason.

"Phenomenal effort tonight against a top team," said CSU Pueblo Head Coach Oliver Twelvetrees. 'We were excellent out of possession and took our chances when they came. Ryan (Nun) was superb in goal, came off his line so well to sweep behind his back line, made some good saves and commanded his box with confidence."

Twelvetrees added, "Gabo was at his brilliant best, scoring two excellent goals. Very happy he earned the MVP of the tournament for all of his hard work and goals these last two years. Collectively, our defense was immense and being the first team to shut out FLC at home was a great achievement. We have all worked so hard these last four years to bring this trophy home, thank you to everyone who played their part."

How it happened:
In the match, the Pack lost the shots battle 14-10 but finished ahead in corners by a 6-5 clip.

Campora finished the match with four shots and Oliveira fired three shots and finished with an assist.

Starting the match, CSU Pueblo battled windy conditions on a mostly cloudy early evening and after back-to-back shots starting in the 16th minute, the Pack earned the first corner of the match.

Oliveira took the corner kick and after a muffed shot from Ignatius DeMark (Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.) stood mid-air, Campora was able to get a header on the loose ball and get it past the goalkeeper inside the right post for the early 1-0 lead.

Oliveira and DeMark were both credited with an assist on the play.

In the half, the ThunderWolves defense held the Skyhawks to six shots and two landing on goal and took the 1-0 lead into the locker room.

CSU Pueblo began the second half right where they left off in the first and was the first to each loose ball and had minimal turnovers.

The Pack recorded two corners in the first six minutes of the period and continued to pressure the Skyhawks on the defensive end.

FLC's best scoring chance of the half came during the 62nd minute on a laser shot that was saved by Nun, the Pack freshman goalkeeper.

Thanks to the strong play at the net, the Pack was able to go back on offense and in the 77th minute, a cleared ball from Andrews was kicked ahead and Campora was able to settle the ball and drive past his defender 1v1 and a shot from near the top of the box found the back of the net for Campora's second goal of the night and a 2-0 Pack lead.

After the goal, Fort Lewis managed one more shot with less than a minute to play and was saved by Nun.

Nun finished the match with seven saves on 14 shots from the home team.

Up Next
CSU Pueblo will now wait for the NCAA Selection Show and see what seed they earn and where they will begin the journey back through the NCAA Tournament. The Men's Soccer Selection Show is set for Monday, Nov. 13 at 5PM on NCAA.com.