MBN Roundup: Boys soccer, softball and cross country

They weren’t sharp and they paid for it.

Mullen boys soccer took a 2-0 loss on Friday night against Dakota Ridge in nonleague, a match in which the Mustangs had chances, but couldn’t take advantage of them.

“A lot of them,”Mustangs head coach Matthew Guglielmo said. “Our finishing was horrid, the execution wasn’t good and our finishing (was awful).

The responsibility falls on me to design sessions.”

Mullen, in dropping to 2-1, had six shots on goal, 12 that came close … and it wasn’t enough.

Guglielmo said his team’s practice on Thursday “wasn’t as sharp as we could have been” and “give (the Eagles) some credit. They played very well, they shut us down, they stopped our dangerous players, they clogged up the middle … it’s why you play the games. They played better.”

The Mustangs were hit for goals in the 30^th minute on a free kick that resulted in a header from the back side and another free kick in the 55^th minute that bent into the left side of the goal.

Mullen will resume play on Wednesday, Sept. 4, home against parochial-rival Regis Jesuit, 4:30 p.m.

In softball, the Mustangs dropped two games in the Erie Tournament – 9-6 to the host Tigers on Thursday and 8-4 to Wheat Ridge on Friday.

Against Erie, Emma DiGiacomo, Avery Panozzo, Marissa Sanchez and Lucia Hurtado each had two hits with Bella Hawkins driving in two runs.

However, the Tigers scored all of their runs in the middle innings and rapped 13 hits off Sanchez. But only four of the nine runs were earned as Mullen was guilty of three errors.

Against Wheat Ridge, which beat the Mustangs in the second round of regionals in 2018 to keep them from the state tournament, Sanchez and Maddie and Maggie Bertsch each had two hits with Maddie driving in three runs.

But Mullen surrendered 14 hits and couldn’t keep up with the Farmers. The Mustangs, who will finish the tournament on Saturday with games against Loveland and Ralston Valley, are 0-4.

In cross country, Mullen was in Friday’s Arapahoe Invitational in Littleton.

For boys, junior Michael Dudzic was 17^th in 17 minutes, 10 seconds, to head Mullen’s 19^th place among 29 teams. Senior Will Locascio was 38^th in 17:48.

For girls, the Mustangs were 13^th among 24 teams. Amy O’Connell was 38^th (21:27) to pace Mullen.

Here’s a link for full results: http://runningbears.com/2019XC/arapahoe/index.html

Mullen will resume meet competition on Saturday, Sept. 7, at Heritage’s Liberty Bell Invitational in Littleton.