Grizzlies strike twice in second half, but fall 4-2
Adams State men's soccer unable to complete comeback in loss against Montana St.-Billings in Pueblo.
PUEBLO, Colo. - Playing host to Montana State-Billings on the campus of CSU-Pueblo Monday afternoon, the Adams State men’s soccer team had their best offensive showing of the season as freshman Chris Roggow (Evergrenn, Colo.) put in his first career goal, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Grizzlies fell, 4-2.
Monday’s meeting was ASC’s first ever against the Yellowjackets, who improve to 3-0-1 on the season with their third straight victory.
Billings led 1-0 at the intermission, after taking 13 shots in the first half, five of which were placed on goal. Freshman net minder Dillon Lee (Arvada, Colo.) was impressive throughout, making four saves in the first half en route to a career-high eight in the game, a number which also ties him for seventh all-time in the ASC record books. The 29 shots Lee faced is also tied for fourth most by a Grizzly goalie.
Following the break, both offenses heated up. Billings fired off another 16 shots in the second stanza, while the Grizzly offense put all five shots they took after the break on goal while scoring twice.
The first Grizzly goal pulled ASC even with the Yellowjackets just 3 minutes, 20 seconds after play resumed. Freshman Norberto Lopez (Providence, Utah) directed a crossing pass into the box that was intercepted by a Billings defender who put one into his own net to give Adams State a hand.
The score remained even until the 61:35 mark, when the Yellowjackets’ Peter Davies found a streaking Chris Andre for his first of two assists in the contest. He notched his second helper 15 minutes later, finding Thomas Sheets and putting Billings up, 3-1.
But it only took the Grizzlies 1 minute, 4 seconds to answer and get themselves right back into the game. Junior Joseph Jallow (Oldjeshwang, Gambia) found himself dribbling into the Yellowjackets zone and with two defenders closing in on either side before flipping the ball ahead and finding Roggow in stride. A few steps later, Roggow wound up and delivered a strike, beating Billings keepr Matt Mitchell with a rocket into the upper left-hand corner of the net. The assist was the first of Jallow’s career.
ASC kept the pressure on in an attempt bring the score even once again. But Billings put in the final goal of the game with under four minutes left, as Sheets managed to split a group of Grizzly defenders and find an open Cory Champney in front of the box to make the score 4-2.
Roggow’s three shots were the most among Grizzlies, while freshmen Henry Stewart (Las Cruces, N.M.) and Eric Rickard (Colorado Springs, Colo.) each managed a pair of shots. The Yellowjackets were led by Sheets who recorded seven shots on the day, and had three other players with five shots apiece.
The Grizzlies will have a short break before returning to the pitch Friday at Murphy Field where they’ll host CSU-Pueblo at 12:30 p.m. for their first-ever Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match.
The ThunderWolves will enter the contest with a record of 0-3-0. ASC was on the road against CSU-Pueblo in a non-conference match in 2009, where the Grizzlies suffered a 4-0 setback on September 4.
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