PUEBLO, Colo. (November 2, 2023) - No. 15 Colorado State University Pueblo men's soccer team advanced to the semifinal round in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament after a 1-0 win over MSU Denver in the quarterfinal round on Thursday at Art & Lorraine Gonzales Stadium.

With the win, CSU Pueblo advance to the semifinal round and will play Sunday at No. 21 and 2-seed Colorado Mesa starting at 12 p.m. at Community Hospital Unity Field in Grand Junction.

Reggie Nicolas (Sr., Palm Bay, Fla.) scored the lone goal of the match in the 74' minute after the ThunderWolves' got control of the ball and a pass ahead down the far side of the pitch was tracked down by Noe Ortiz Pena (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) who then hit a cross ball to the far side and was perfectly timed by Nicolas who was able to get a header on the ball that went into the net for the 1-0 lead.

"Very proud of our performance tonight," said CSU Pueblo Head Coach Oliver Twelvetrees. "We did almost everything right and only gave up a couple of shots and created multiple opportunities to score. I thought Kenshin Uneo (Sr., Hyogo, Japan) and our back line was almost perfect."

In the match, CSU Pueblo possessed the ball for most of the match and fired 18 shots against just one from MSU Denver. 

The Roadrunners had two corners and the Pack finished with one in a match that had 27 total fouls called.

At halftime, the ThunderWolves had eight shots recorded led by two each from Matthew Coleman (Sr., Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK) and Gabriel Campora (Sr., Saltillo, Mexico).

Caio Oliveira (Sr., Espigao d'Oeste, Brazil) fired one shot in the first half that went just wide of the post for a goal kick.

In the second half, much of the starters was on the pitch to continue to control the ball.

The Pack drove the ball into the box and was unlucky in finding the net.

After a substitution midway through the period, the ThunderWolves got the ball in their defensive side and the ball went towards the far side and the connection between Ortiz Pena and Nicolas put the Pack ahead 1-0 with just over fifteen minutes to play.

Over the final ten minutes, CSU Pueblo kept the ball away from the Roadrunners to avoid any big scoring threat.

In his first postseason game between the posts, Pack freshman goalkeeper Ryan Nun (Broomfield, Colo.) was strong for the Pack and made one save against one shot from MSU Denver.

Twelvetrees added, "Really happy for Reggie and Noe who produced a moment of magic to win the game. They have both been amazing servants for the program and it was a special moment."

The ThunderWolves return to the pitch Sunday at Colorado Mesa.