GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado and Adams State notched goals one minute apart early in second half action Thursday night before having to settle for a 1-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference draw on a chilly night at Katy O. Rady Field.

The game was the program's annual Pink Out, with Gunnison's Tough Enough to Wear Pink organization in attendance to raise breast cancer awareness.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western ties Adams State, 1-1
Records: Western 0-9-3 overall (0-2-3 RMAC), Adams State 6-2-2 (2-1-1)
Location: Katy O. Rady Field, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Though Adams State created a dangerous scoring opportunity early, a shot at the end of the fourth minute bouncing off the left post, it was the Mountaineers who earned the advantage in possession over the remainder of the opening half.
• Western put six of its nine shots on frame during that opening 45 minutes, with its advantage in possession allowing the Grizzlies to get off just four shots and only two on Mountaineer goalkeeper Ashlyn Fitzpatrick.
• Adams State struck first, though, only 10 minutes into second half action, converting a penalty kick at the 54:16 mark of the game.
• The Mountaineers responded with immediate pressure, swarming around the ASU goal. Natsuki Murakami crossed a shot from the right and toward the left side of the goal, but a Grizzlies defender stepped into the path of the shot and unwittingly deflected the ball into her own net to pull Western even at 55:17.
• Not even a minute later the Mountaineers earned a free kick 10 yards outside the box where Cianna Thomas struck a shot that looked to skirt the underside of the crossbar only to have ASU goalie Ashly Bartley get a glove on the shot to deflect it over the goal.
• The Mountaineers continued to have the advantage in possession, eventually resulting in a string of five unanswered shots from the 59th to the 77th minute, Bartley coming to the ASU rescue on two of those shots.

QUICK NOTES

• The Mountaineers would finish with 40 percent of their possession in the Grizzlies' defensive end, while allowing Adams State to earn only 25% of its possession in its attacking end.
• Evidence of Western's advantage throughout the game was its 11-1 advantage in earning corner kick opportunities.
• Western outshot ASU 17-11 overall and 9-4 in shots on goal.

THEY SAID IT


UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will entertain New Mexico Highlands in an RMAC match Sunday, Oct. 12 at 12 p.m. on Western's Senior Day.