LAKEWOOD, CO- The Cougars continued play at home on a brisk fall morning as they celebrated Senior Day and took on Western Colorado. After a scoreless first half, the two teams each notched a goal to draw 1-1. With a result an hour after the final whistle elsewhere in the RMAC, CCU clinched their first RMAC tournament berth since 2018.
The offense came out firing early for the Cougars as they immediately pressured the Mountaineers with a trio of shots and a pair of corners in the first two minutes of play. In the 14th,
Justine Moreau nearly gave her team the lead, but her shot clanged off the right woodwork. WCU got a shot on goal off later in the half that was saved by
Alana Lopp, and she would go on to make four more saves to send the teams to halftime level at 0-0.
The second half was another great battle as the two sides looked to notch the winning goal.
Ava Schock forced a save with a shot on goal while
Hannah Mares also had a look that was topped by the Western Colorado keeper. Lopp made a pair of saves as the teams headed into the final 10 minutes of play still scoreless. A push from CCU resulted in
Capri Dewing passing a ball towards the middle to a waiting
Danel Hach. After expertly avoiding a defender, the sophomore unleashed a screamer from the top of the 18 yard box with her left foot that ripped into the upper 90 and found the back of the net with a little less than seven minutes to play. After being shutout all game, the Mountaineers quickly responded to the Cougar goal with a run that saw a striker go down in the box and awarded a penalty. Natsuki Murakami finished from the spot to tie the game at 1-1 50 seconds after the CCU goal. The two sides battled to the end as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
With a point earned on the day and other results in the league, Colorado Christian has now clinched a berth in the RMAC Tournament for the first time in six years. With one game left, the Cougars' seed in the tournament is yet to be determined, but they will take part in the eight team postseason play next weekend.
CCU will close the regular season with a home matchup against crosstown rivals MSU Denver on November 6 at 2 p.m. MST.
