Jordan Reese and Trevor Cobb both scored their first goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough to get Colorado College a victory against its cross-town rivals.
Garrett Maloney scored what proved to be the game-winning goal off Eric Goldberg’s corner kick in the 66th minute and CU-Colorado Springs hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday night at Washburn Field.
It was the first game between the schools since the Colorado College defeated UCCS, 3-1, at Stewart Field on Oct. 8, 2005.
Early in the game, the Tigers had a difficult time adjusting to the faster pace of the synthetic turf and the Mountain Lions’ four-back defensive formation, which led to four off-side calls.
Dami Oladiran put UCCS on the board just 5:38 into the game when he took a pass from Goldberg, settled the ball in traffic, and put a shot past CC’s Andy McGhie, just inside the far post from eight yards out.
Tigers eventually gained the territorial advantage and Reese tied the game with 8:05 remaining in the first half when he snuck a shot past Adam Liszewski from 20 yards out inside the near post.
But CC lost the momentum seven minutes later when Greg Miley scored off of pin-point passes from Donny Stone and Tom O’Dea to gIve the Mountain Lions a 2-1 advantage with 1:01 remaining in the first half.
Cobb cut the deficit to 3-2 with an unassisted goal in the 87th minute, but that was as close as the Tigers would get.
Liszewski made six saves for the Mountain Lions, including three in the second half when CC pressed forward after falling behind by two goals.
Despite playing without two of their top offensive weapons, seniors Brendan Douglas and Ben Hancock, the Tigers outshot UCCS 18-15 and had 7-6 edge in shots on goal.
McGhie made three saves, all in the first half, in his first appearance since Sept. 6, 2008.
Colorado College returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 12, when the Tigers play host to Whitman College on Stewart Field at 2 p.m.