Dixie State men's soccer: Red Storm lose, play Thursday

The Red Storm men's soccer team managed to avoid a complete self-destruction after giving up three early goals to Grand Canyon University, but still lost 3-0 Friday.

The momentum did not swing in favor of Dixie State College (5-9-1, 3-8) during the entire contest as GCU scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.

"It was just a lack of focus," head coach Danny Ortiz said. "You can't do that against teams like (GCU), and once things start to go bad it's tough to regain composure."

The Antelopes of GCU struck again in the 31st minute with a goal by Nick Sykes, and that is where the scoring would end.

"Luckily we made it (to halftime) without giving up anymore," Ortiz said. "Once we got our composure back to us we went out and played like we can.. [GCU] would've been happy to beat us 12-0, and it was headed that way."

Ortiz also said he was upset with the fact that his team did not come out and play hard from the beginning, but he was very pleased that they finished.

"They didn't pack it and decide it was over," he said.

The game on Friday was also an unfriendly reminder of how dangerous sports can be as Andrew Wittig of GCU was knocked completely unconscious.

A collision between Wittig and DSC freshman goalkeeper Tyler McAninch occurred in the 80th minute. Wittig made contact with McAninch's elbow, and was unconscious before hitting the turf. Junior midfielder Arnie Anaya immediately saw something was wrong and began shouting for help to be obtained for the motionless Wittig.

"I was just doing my job," said McAninch, a general education major from Las Vegas. "I felt bad he got hurt that bad, but it'll make people think twice before coming in on me."

Ortiz initiated a group prayer at midfield between the two teams while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. The game continued after a 16-minute delay.

The collision between McAninch and Wittig was the most serious, but was not the only collision that took place in the game. Freshman forward Jordan Roylance collided with GCU goalkeeper Ben Paneccasio in the 74th minute, which sidelined Roylance for the remainder of the game.

Ortiz said he would have Roylance checked out to make sure he was all right, but expected his leading goal scorer to be just fine.

The final collision occurred between freshman midfielder Tyler Albretsen and Paneccasio in the closing minutes of the game. Albretsen got up on his own strength and was OK.

The Red Storm face the Urban Knights of Academy of Art University Thursday at 7 p.m. for the final game at Hansen Stadium this year.

The final home game and regular season game will be played at Dixie High School Saturday at 7 p.m. against the Argonauts of Notre Dame de Namur.

Editor's note: The Dixie Sun is the student paper of Dixie State College