WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- No. 16 Colorado State-Pueblo limited No. 2-ranked Midwestern State to three shots and took advantage of a re-start to knock of the top-seeded Mustangs 1-0 in the third round of the NCAA Division II Championships Friday afternoon at Stang Park.
The loss ended the longest winning streak in MSU program history at 18 and the Mustangs closed an exceptional season with a 20-1-1 record.
Colorado State-Pueblo (17-4-2) moves on to face No. 4-ranked Cal State Los Angeles (18-1-2) in the national quarterfinal Sunday afternoon at Stang Park. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
"It was a special group, a really special group," MSU coach
Michael Meachum said. "We had some great leadership, and we had some great younger guys that really picked up. We achieved some really big highs and today was a little bit of a low for us."
The Mustangs claimed their second Lone Star Conference title in the last three seasons, while claiming the league's postseason title for the third consecutive year. MSU was also the first side in 21 seasons to run the table in league play with a 9-0 mark.
Midwestern State claimed the automatic bid for its 10th consecutive NCAA postseason, advancing to the third round for the first time since 2017.
The Mustangs also finished the campaign with the best winning percentage in the storied program history with a 17-0-1 record (.972) bettering the 16-0-1 mark (.971) set in 2015. It was the fifth time the Mustangs have gone unbeaten during the regular season also achieving the feat in 2002, 2010, 2015, and 2017.
But MSU's dream of winning the school's first varsity team national championship came to an end with its first loss since the second round of the 2022 NCAA Division II tournament.
"Like I told the boys, it's a step in the journey," Meachum said. "It's a painful step, but it is a step. Sometimes the most painful steps are the biggest ones you've got to take, the way you can progress through the whole process in the system.
Colorado State-Pueblo handed the Mustangs their only shutout of the season and limited MSU's high-octane attack to just three shots. Midwestern averaged 16.4 shots a game coming into a match with a low of 10.
In fact, it had been seven years since the Mustangs were held to three shots. Ironically, that came in a 1-0 win over No. 3-ranked St. Edward's on October 20, 2016 in Austin.
"(CSU-Pueblo coach) Oliver (Twelvetrees) does a great job," Meachum said. "They were national runners-up last year. They returned a lot of guys and a lot of experience. They showed up and had a good game plan and kinda took away some of our weapons and some of our threats."
The Thunderwolves took advantage of a free kick in the 78th minute when Caio Oliveira served in a cross from the left wing that was redirected toward the left post by Shjon Andrews. Ricardo Schroeder, Jr. headed it to the upper left corner of the net to provide the difference in the game.
"They are a great set piece team," MSU junior goalkeeper
Adam Braman said. "It's what they built their program around. We just have them too many today. I think that really slowed it down, having to defend for your lives. Every set piece is dangerous and we did a really good job today, then didn't do well on one. That's how this tournament goes. One goal and one moment. The game can completely shift. It's just unfortunate for us this time around."
Midwestern State had its best chances starting in the 55th minute when
Liam Pritchard's shot from the right side of the penalty area was deflected just wide of goal. After the Mustangs earned a pair of corner kicks, senior
Anthony Perea served a cross into the box.
Mere Escobar's one-time shot off of his left foot caromed just off the inside of the far post and away from goal, allowing the Thunderwolves a clearance.
"The ball didn't bounce our way," Meachum said. "It hits the inside of the post and comes back instead of bouncing across goal where we could have maybe got another opportunity on it. They are extremely dangerous on restarts and set pieces and it ended up costing us in the end."
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