Colorado State soccer beat Northern Colorado to grab its first win of the season.
The Rams won the game 3-0, going 1-1-1 to start the season. CSU struggled to find the net in the first half, having 14 shots but zero goals. The Rams poured it on with three goals in the second half.
Coming out of halftime, Mia Massey scored the first goal in the 62nd minute to get the party started. She was one of three Rams to score against the Bears. However, only one Ram was able to walk away with two assists. Kacie Laurie was able to bag herself a pair of assists in Greeley, Colorado.
Taite DeLange was the second Ram to get a goal, helping the Rams put a bit of cushion between them and the Bears — making a win feel so much closer.
Maggie Altman had a wild first half with six shots to make up most of CSU’s attempts. However, she was not able to find the back of the net to get any go-ahead goals, so she went into the locker room with nothing to show for her hard work. She was able to score the dagger that took down the Bears in the 85th minute to put a bow on the Rams’ win.
“We knew what we had to get done in that first half and it all came down to the execution,” Altman said. “You know the last little bit and having the whole team supporting behind me. It’s like I just needed to find the back of the net. So it felt really good to do so.”
The Rams only allowed three shot attempts and two shots on goal to make it a defensive spectacle.
“Anytime you can play in an environment like this — under the lights — and you’re the away team, I think it just kind of gives you a little chip on your shoulder,” coach Keeley Hagen said. “It makes you want to fight even that much harder, right. Because you’re not the home team. So, it was definitely an enjoyable environment.”
After three games, the Rams have faced a variety of talent from the Big Sky to the Big 10. They’ve put in some hard work against some good opponents and have been able to walk away satisfied.
“We love to train harder than we play in season,” Liv Stutzman said. “So getting to play those Big 10 schools is awesome. So, just getting a new type of competition you feel that obviously the Mountain West is a very special type of competition as well.”
The Rams head into their fourth game against California Baptist at 1 p.m. on Aug. 25 at the new CSU Soccer field, with a good handful of experience to lean back on to help them prevail.
Reach Alex Graser at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter at @AlexGraser5354
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