Greyhound men's soccer plays CMU to 0-0 tie

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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The Eastern New Mexico men’s soccer team opened its season with a 0-0 tie Thursday, shutting out Colorado Mesa University in double overtime.

While Greyhound (0-0-1) head coach Paul Tate would obviously have liked a win, in the game of soccer a tie can feel just as good.

“For us to start the season off with a shutout was huge. We weren’t able to do that last year. This was a hard fought battle and we just stayed in it and played our game,” said Tate.

James Gutierrez came out the hero of the contest, recording nine saves and playing perhaps his best game of his career.

Tate said, “James played unbelievable, making saves left and right. A lot of wide open looks at the goal, he made the saves. Probably one of the best games that I’ve seen him play as a keeper.”

Offensively, both Ryan McManus and Robert Raspudic had solid outings, each recording two shots on goal. Colorado Mesa (0-0-1) came out aggressive, forcing the Greyhounds to change up their game plan early.

“He (Raspudic) played really well, really finished the game strong for us, and McManas was all over the place,” said Tate. “We had to change our game plan to be a little more defensive minded. They were flooding on the attack so we wanted to slow the game up and slow their pace.”

The game was extremely competitive on both sides, with a total of seven yellow cards being handed out. Three cards were given to Eastern, while Mesa received four.