COLORADO SPRINGS - Ian Rose made multiple goal-saving stops for Westminster men's soccer (4-5, 1-0 RMAC), and
Luke Merrill and
Brennan Neeley found the net in the second half to help the Griffins to a 2-1 win over UCCS (4-3-1, 0-1 RMAC) on Friday afternoon at Mountain Lion Stadium.
The first half was a scoreless affair with Rose coming up big on multiple occasions to stifle a dangerous Mountain Lions attack early. UCCS ended the half with a majority of the possession and a 7-6 advantage in total shots, but the match remained scoreless with the help of Rose's efforts.
Just a minute and a half into the second 45 minutes, Westminster conceded a penalty and UCCS took the lead with Alex Andersson converting to make it a 1-0 game. The Griffins, who also went down 1-0 on a penalty in Sunday's 2-1 win at Fort Lewis, found their composure quickly and began dominating possession as the second half progressed. Just after the clock hit the 58th minute,
Kaden Amano played a through ball into Merrill who streaked towards the Mountain Lions' end line and angled a perfect ball back across net to notch his second goal of the season and even the match at 1-1.
The Griffins continued to control the run of play after evening up the score and the positive play in the attacking third continued as a series of short passes switched the point of attack to Brennan Neely. Neeley put a shot towards net and benefited from a deflection to beat the Mountain Lions' goalkeeper and put Westminster ahead, 2-1, in the 72nd minute.
Westminster kept up its positive team play and possession advantage over the final 20 minutes, keeping Rose's net relatively quiet until the final whistle to help the Griffins secure the 2-1 win and 1-0 start to their 2021 RMAC schedule.
The Griffins hope to ride the momentum of their back-to-back wins into Pueblo, Colo., as they take on No. 19 CSU Pueblo on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
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