Grizzlies take a hit in New Mexico

Courtney Jones

In need of a win to keep Playoff hopes alive, the Grizzlies took a hard loss this past Friday against the New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls at Perkins Stadium in New Mexico.  The Grizzlies would have moved into 6^th in the RMAC with the win against the Cowgirls, but now drop to 4-9-1 in the league and 6-11-1 in overall play with a total of 13 points in the RMAC. The Perkins Stadium turf field has proved extremely troublesome for the Grizzlies, who have only one win on the road there and that was in 2003.

The Grizzlies nearly struck first however as freshman Jenna Iwaniec hit the crossbar with a shot at the 10 minute mark. Unfortunately, just over two minutes later Cowgirl Yolanda Elias put the Cowgirls on the board when she scored on a penalty kick, her first goal of the season. The goal was tallied at the 12:20 mark and would be followed up just over 16 minutes later by teammate Krista Mashak at the 29^th minute mark. The rest of the game would be more even, with shots taken by both teams but neither able to capitalize.

With the win, NMHU keeper Shannon Delarosbil recorded her first shut out of the season and had four saves on the day. Grizzly goalkeeper Kirster Dorsey tallied a total of 5 saves in the game. The Cowgirls held the advantage in total shots, edging out the Grizzlies 12-10. Grizzly shots were taken by Jessica Hellweg, Kaylee Smith, Amber Drumm, Kenzie Favero, Ashley Grover, Jenna Iwaniec, Molly McMullen, and Jackie McCuistion. Hellweg and Smith tallied two each for the visiting Grizzlies. Adams State had a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks and both teams had 13 fouls called against them, 6 of which were yellow cards. In order to keep their post season chances alive the Grizzlies will need to take down the UCCS Mountain Lions and follow that up with a huge upset against the 14-0 No. 6 ranked Metro State Roadrunners, who they play on October 30^th here at Murphy Field.

Tough Match-up ends in 1-1 tie

In a close and intense game, the Adams State Grizzlies battled their way to a 1-1 tie with the University of Colorado- Colorado Springs Mountain Lions this past Sunday at Murphy Field. The first half was a good battle by both teams with many scoring opportunities had but neither of the two were able to get a tally on the scoreboard.

The second half would remain the same until the 55^th minute mark when Mountain Lion Kristin Preblo chested in a goal off of an Ashley Collins free kick. The Grizzlies did not sit back and take it though, they instead came back with a goal from freshman jenna Iwaniex off of an Ashley Grover assist. The goal was nearly saved by Mountain Lion keeper Kayla Millar who got a hand on it, but the ball was able to find its way to the right side of the net to tie up the score. The game would then go into a double overtime situation, in which neither team was able to capitalize for the much needed win.

In the very close match up the Mountain Lions had a slight edge in shots with 29 just one more than the Grizzlies. However, the Grizzlies had the lead in shots on goal which was 11 compared to the visitors 9. UCCS keeper Kayla Millar had 10 saves on the day, while Grizzly keeper Kirsten Dorsey tallied 8 in the match up. The Grizzly offense was led by senior Ashley Sales and sophomore Jessica Hellweg, who each had 5 shots in the game. The tie gives the Grizzlies 14 points in RMAC standings, putting them below Colorado Christian, UCCS, and Mesa State College who are all looking to find the last places into the RMAC playoffs. Adams State is now 4-9-2 in the conference and 6-11-2 overall this season. They next face Metro State in their final regular season game this coming Friday here at Murphy field at 2 p.m. If the Grizzlies are able to pull an upset against the No. 6^th nationally ranked Roadrunners and get a lot of help from other teams in the league, they may still have a chance at post season play, which they have not been a part of since their 2006 season.