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Fort Lewis women start homecoming weekend with a wild win over Western State

Skyhawks win third in a row

It wasn’t the prettiest start to the final homecoming weekend for Caitlyn Espinosa and Brooke Milliet, but the two seniors played a huge role in the Skyhawks’ 1-0 win over Western State on Friday afternoon at Dirks Field.

Espinosa was fantastic in the net yet again with 12 saves, many of which were quality chances destined for the back of the net. Fort Lewis College’s women’s soccer team (6-2-1, 4-1-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) was outshot in the contest 20-11, but Espinosa kept it close long enough for the offense to come through.

“When I’m getting a lot of action like that, I just think I’ve got to get the ball out of here,” Espinosa said. “I don’t want it near me, and, as long as I can get it down the field, I have faith that the girls will get the job done.”

Eventually, they did.

In the 87th minute, senior Brooke Milliet, a Durango High School alumna and daughter of Charlie and Janis Milliet, took the ball near the corner for a throw-in, and everyone around Dirks Field knew what was coming next.

Milliet grabbed the ball, took a running start, flipped forward and heaved a perfect ball into a crowd in front of the net. Her patented flip throw-in bounced in the box, scooted over the Mountaineer defense and onto Ana Moran’s foot.

Bodies on both sides hit the ground, as there was a lot of incidental contact in front of Western State goalkeeper Meghan Jedrzejewski. Moran stayed on her feet and buried it into the back of the net to give the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead in the final minutes.

For the second time in three games, Milliet’s throw led to a huge goal for the Skyhawks.

“I think it comes in at a really high angle, so people have a tough time judging the bounce,” Milliet said. “When it hits the ground, we have people like Courtney (Riley), Ana (Moran) and Shannon (Harpham) crashing the net, and they all know how to finish.”

It was a clutch moment for the Skyhawks, as it seemed they were hanging on to preserve a tie with a feisty Mountaineers team. In the second half, Western State (4-5-1, 2-4 RMAC) outshot the home team 13-6 and had far more chances.

After the decisive goal, Mountaineers’ head coach Jeremy Clevenger received a yellow card because he thought Moran pushed a few of his players aside to get into position for the game-winning goal.

“I think we were just all going aggressively for the ball,” Moran said. “If that means tripping over the ball or tripping over someone’s toe, so be it, but you have to just throw your body in there and hope good things will happen.”

Good things have been happening to FLC’s group in recent weeks. Fort Lewis has won three consecutive games and has a date with No. 21 UC-Colorado Springs at 1 p.m. Sunday at Dirks Field.

“It was an aggressive game (Friday), and it was good to see us step up to the challenge,” said Skyhawks’ head coach Jimmy Hall. “I expect a much faster game this Sunday, and they’re a dangerous group of kids, but I believe our girls are up to the challenge.”

jfries@durangoherald.com

Oct 2, 2015
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