PUEBLO, Colo. -- Midwestern State broke through for a pair of rapid fire second-half goals to come away with a much-needed 4-1 win over Colorado State-Pueblo Friday night at Rawlings Complex.
 
"I was proud of the guys," MSU coach Doug Elder said."These were two teams fighting for their first win. We were in total control and could have been up bigger. The guys responded well after they tied it."
 
Junior Chase Robertson staked the Mustangs to a 1-0 lead drilling in a shot from 25 yards out on a restart in the 22nd minute, but the Thunderwolves rallied for the equalizer on a free kick of their off of the boot of Dustin Geist in the 69th minute.
 
"We had quite a few chances especially in the first half," Elder said. "We've had some problems defending restarts and he bent it over the wall. These guys just come at you and leave a gap in the midfield. We were able to pick our chances well to take it back at them."
 
The score was tied for just three minutes as MSU junior forward Dan Johns put the Mustangs back on top with a thunderous drive from 45 yards out in the 72nd minute.
 
"The keeper was off of his line and (Johns) turned and drove it passed him on a line," Elder said. "It was a really impressive shot."
 
Less than a minute later, junior midfielder Andrew Power converted a cross from Len Smith to give MSU a commanding 3-1 lead.
 
"It was a good cross from Lenny and Power was able to flick it on goal," Elder said. "Going up two goals really put the fork in them."
 
Midwestern tacked on a fourth goal in the 86th minute when sophomore Idi Camara headed in a cross from junior defender Sam Bartek.
 
The Mustangs held 29-9 edge in shots while placing 16 on goal to break out of an early season scoring slump.
 
"We had a really good training session last night and finished really well," Elder said. "I felt like we were going to score some goals. We saw some really promising things."
 
The Mustangs close the road trip Sunday at Colorado-Colorado Springs. Kickoff is set for noon.
 
Colorado State-Pueblo fell to 0-3.