ALAMOSA, Colo.  Abby Raio's goal in the 35th minute proved to be the game-winner for Western Colorado on Friday afternoon as the Mountaineers downed host Adams State, 2-1, in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. Adams State, 2-1
Records: Western 3-4-1 (2-0 RMAC), Adams State 2-4-1 (0-3)
Location: ASU Lacrosse & Soccer Field, Alamosa, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Raio's goal came on Western's ensuing possession of a Grizzlies shot that skimmed just over the upper left corner of the Mountaineer goal. A long flip of the field from the left to the right led to a pass up the sideline to Natsuki Murakami.
• Raio was streaking past her defender up ahead and to the right of Murakami who tagged a long, leading pass from the Western side of midfield that Raio chased down ahead of defender.
• Her first touch from outside the box helped her maintain possession and forced the ASU goalie to charge off her line. From about 10 yards out it then was easy for Raio to push her shot across the keeper and inside the left post.
• Rai's opportunity for the game-winner was provided by Cianna Thomas in the 17th minute.
• A throw-in from the right touch line eventually came to the feet of Reilly Schindler, who lofted a short pass to Thomas atop the half circle. Thomas collected it with her left, kicked it over to her right and then drilled her attempt dead center and just below the crossbar for the game's opening score.
• Adams State came out of the halftime break desperately seeking to halve the 2-0 deficit, and almost got it 30 seconds in, but an offside call negated the goal.
• The Grizzlies finally did cut the lead in half, scoring in the 57th on a goal by Colette Tena.
• ASU would outshoot Western 3-1 over the rest of the game, but Aubree Orosco came up with saves on the two Grizzlies shots that made it on frame to preserve Western's one-goal advantage.

TURF NOTES

• The Western victory elevated the Mountaineers to 2-0 in RMAC action, the first time in program history that they have begun conference play with consecutive wins.
• The win also snapped ASU's two-match winning streak over Western after the Grizzlies posted 1-0 victories in 2023 and 2022.
• Orosco would finish the game with six saves to earn the win between the pipes for Western.
• ASU nearly doubled up the Mountaineers in shots, 17-9, but only 7 of those 17 shots made it on frame while almost half, 4, of Western's shots were on goal.

UP NEXT
Western continues its travel weekend, continuing on to Las Vegas, N.M., for a Sunday afternoon RMAC match against host New Mexico Highlands University (2-6-1 0-3 RMAC).