By Chris Graham

ThunderWolves snuck a 2-1 win against the Colorado College Tigers at Art and Lorraine Gonzales stadium Tuesday.

The ThunderWolves were down early in the first period as the Tigers scored a goal after six minutes. Later in the third period with a little less than two minutes left, senior Connor Marth setup redshirt sophomore Mark Ocampo for the game tying goal.

As time expired in the same period, sophomore Cameron Campbell assisted sophomore Joe McKee in scoring to put the ThunderWolves in the lead 2-1.

“I thought in the first 15 minutes that they outplayed us,” said ThunderWolves head coach Roy Stanley, “after the first 15 at least defensively we did a better job.”
Neither team scored another shot the rest of the game and the final would be 2-1.

“Offensively I think we have more firepower and more awareness and more things to offer,” said Stanley, “but overall I am pleased.”

The game was played in three 30 minute periods with 10 minutes in between each period This game was also an exhibition match so the game does not count toward the team’s overall record.

What the game did allow was for many of the team’s younger players to get some minutes against quality competition.

“We played a lot of new and younger guys that really stepped up,” said Marth, “Being a senior I know these preseason games are important to get the nerves out and build confidence which is what we did against Colorado College.”

CC is a division three school but is a “respectable division three team” said Stanley. CC went 16-3-1 last year and made it to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship.

This was the ThunderWolves second exhibition game. The first game was against Air Force at Air Force were the Pack lost 3-0.

“It was a learning experience especially for the new guys in that game, the faster pace of college soccer is something that is not easy to adjust to,” said Marth.

Air Force is a division one school that went 14-7-1 last season and made it the Western Athletic Conference championship.

“Air Force is a great opponent,” said Marth, “we have learned and are better having that experience.”

These exhibition games prove useful for the record number of freshmen the entered the ThunderWolf soccer program. 12 freshmen were recruited out of high school to help the Thunderwolves.

“We still have work to do but I can see the culture and mentality changing for the better here for Pack soccer,” said Marth.

The Thunderwolves have one more exhibition game before starting the regular season. They will play Metropolitan State University Denver Friday at 7:30 p.m. MSU Denver is a team that is in the ThunderWolves conference to the two teams will play again in the regular season.

“We are still in that phase where we are learning our team,” said Stanley.

The first regular season game for the ThunderWolves is on Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

“I really want the wins in the regular year,” Stanley said.