MBN Roundup: Boys soccer, volleyball

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
'Stangs' get 3-0 loss on the pitch; volleyball on 2-week break.

Mullen is into the very meaty section of its Centennial League boys soccer schedule and holding its own, and it probably will carry over to its not-too-distant future.

Despite Tuesday night’s 3-0 setback to Grandview at Legacy Stadium in Aurora, the Class 4A Mustangs are holding their own in league at 2-2-1 and 7-4-1 overall.

And a very interesting league it is – in its two previous matches, Mullen beat Cherokee Trail, a 2018 5A quarterfinalist, 4-2 before losing to defending 5A state champion Arapahoe 4-1. Grandview was 5A state runner-up a year ago.

“I don’t think the final score was indicative of the match,” Mustangs coach Matthew Guglielmo said afterward. “(The Wolves) scored a very good goal, one on a penalty shot and a late one.”

True. Grandview (8-2-2, 2-1-1) scored from out front in the 17th minute, on the penalty shot in the 59th and the late one in the 79th.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs had a series of offensive chances and couldn’t convert, and keeper Ethan Heffern, a sophomore, did his best to keep it close, stopping nine shots, about a half-dozen that were real testers.

“We played,” Guglielmo said of his tema’s usual effort, “and that’s a good (Wolves) team. It will help us in the (4A) tournament.”

The Mustangs will resume league play on Thursday at home against Smoky Hill (6-5-1, 1-2-1), a 4-0 loser to Overland in the opening game at Legacy, on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
 
In volleyball, the Mustangs have been idle for two weeks thanks to last week’s snowstorm and the Cherry Creek District fall break this week.

Mullen, 7-8 overall and 1-5 in league, was to play Aurora’s Overland to complete Centennial play in the regular season late the past week, but will go from Oct. 7 to Oct. 21 between matches.

In addition, Mullen will have to wait until after Monday’s match to see where it will land in the Centennial Challenge, a late-season mini-tournament of sorts in favor of a second go-round.

“We don’t know yet,” Mustangs head coach Jeff Oliver said of where his tema will land in the league seeding. “Winners go to the upper bracket and losers go to the lower bracket.”

Each team will get three matches. The Mustangs will play Oct. 22, 24 and 29. Plus, Mullen will be in the Palmer Ridge Tournament in Monument on Nov. 2 to wrap up its regular season.
Back