Second half surge powers Mesa State past Grizzlies
Adams State yields four second half goal, falls 5-1
ALAMOSA – The Adams State men’s soccer team went into halftime against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Mesa State tied 1-1 on Sunday afternoon thanks to senior David Powers’ (Fairbanks, Alaska) first goal of the season, but the Mavericks offense exploded for four goals in the second half as the Grizzlies fell 5-1.
The Mavericks improved to 5-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in RMAC play and were led by Reese Kegans, who tallied six points in the contest, netting two goals along with a pair of assists. Meanwhile, ASC drops to 0-7 on the season and 0-4 in conference. After falling to Mesa State for the second time this season, having hosted the Mavericks for a non-RMAC contest on Sept. 5, ASC trails 0-2-1 in the all-time series.
Kegans started the scoring in the 20th minute, when a pair of on-target passes allowed him an open shot in the box, and Marco Escobar and Ben Medina were each credited with an assist on the goal.
But Adams State was quick to respond. Just two minutes and two seconds later, junior Joseph Jallow (Oldjeshwang, Gambia) delivered a pass to Powers, who was in wait at the top of the box and fired true from 20 yards out.
The assist was Jallow’s second of the season, and was the second goal of Powers’ career. It was the only shot the Grizzlies would put on goal in the first half, but they made it count.
Freshman keeper Dillon Lee (Arvada, Colo.) faced eight shots in the first and made three saves to keep the Grizzlies even at intermission, only the second time this season the Grizzlies have not gone into the break trailing. In this season’s earlier meeting between ASC and Mesa State, the Mavericks ended the first half with a 3-0 lead.
However, the second half saw a recharged Maverick attack. Mesa State took 21 shots after the intermission and put 11 of them on goal, while the Grizzlies were only able to manage six shots and three on goal over the final 45 minutes.
Kegans put the Mavericks up for good at 50:12, corralling the rebound after Lee saved a shot from Steve Shaw and tallying his second goal of the game. Just over three minutes later, Kegans tapped the ball right to Medina during a Mavericks 2-on-1 fast break, who beat Paul Pizza (Alamosa, Colo.) to the left, making the score 3-1.
Medina, who would end the day nearly matching Kegans with five points, scored his second of the afternoon from the baseline, firing a shot that was tipped by Pizza but still made its way to the back of net. Kegans also assisted on the final goal of the game in the 76th minute.
Lee made nine saves in the contest while allowing three goals to the Mavericks, and Pizza allowed two goals while making no saves. The grizzlies defense accounted for one team save in the contest.
Freshaman Henry Stewart (Las Cruces, N.M.) recorded three shots in the game to lead the Grizzlies, putting a pair of them on goal, but was unable to put one past Mavericks netminder Billy Martinez who made three saves.
Adams State had six corner kicks in the contest to Mesa State’s three, but were only managed to take two shots off those chances while the Mavericks managed shots on all three of theirs.
Over a month into the season, Adams State will play its first away match on Friday, Oct. 1, against No. 11-ranked Metro State in Denver for the first ever meeting between the two programs. The Roadrunners, third in the RMAC standings with 11 points, are 6-1-2 overall and 3-0-2 in league play, after playing to a scoreless double-overtime draw against No. 3 Colorado Mines Sunday afternoon.
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