For the first time ever, the Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team played Westminster College (Utah), and with stingy defense and timely scoring, the Skyhawks pulled out the win in a closely-knit match, 2-1.
Fort Lewis (5-2-1, 3-1-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) moved into third place in the conference as winners of two in a row.
As neither team has ever faced each other, both teams played tough Sunday at Dirks Field. With the game tied at 1 in the second half, sophomore midfielder Alicia Sanchez split two Westminster defenders on her way to delivering the go-ahead goal. Senior forward and Durango High School alumna Brooke Milliet played the ball from the throw-in, as Sanchez felt the Westminster defense playing her left side. Sanchez had a perfect path to dribble through and placed the ball in the net.
“It feels really good to win on our own field,” said Sanchez, who now has three goals and seven points this season.
As play continued, a close game and a few blown calls caused tempers to flare as the intensity grew with the warm outside temperatures, which reached 81 degrees.
“There was some frustration from both teams because some of the calls were a little inconsistent and not really explained,” Sanchez said.
The first score came from sophomore forward Shayla Malecki only 11 minutes, 5 seconds into the first half. Malecki played the right field line, as Milliet placed the ball out wide with a sharp pass and signaled Malecki, who then took the ball the rest of the way. Malecki’s shot floated high in the air, and with a little help from the wind, the ball fell in the net.
Malecki’s goal was her second of the year. She has four points on the season with nine shots on goal. Milliet was credited with assists on both goals.
“I got a lucky shot off with my right foot; it was pretty cool,” said Malecki, who helped the Skyhawks improve to 2-0 at home. “It’s awesome to win on our home turf. With all our fans (Sunday), we had a big crowd, and it’s nice to bring one home for them. But not only them, but ourselves as well.”
The Skyhawks have outscored their opponents 11-7 this year.
Thirty-one seconds after Malecki’s goal, Westminster freshman McKell Kellogg put the Griffins on the board for the first time, as she scored on an unassisted play. McKell scored a rare goal on senior Skyhawk goalkeeper Caitlyn Espinosa off a rebound two yards in front of the goal.
Second-year head coach Jimmy Hall said Espinosa has been playing so fantastic that a goal on her is not common. Espinosa finished the day with three saves and now has 41 saves this year and only seven goals allowed. The win pushed her record to 5-2-1.
“(Espinosa) has been claiming so many balls that you have to be happy with her,” Hall said.
Hall said Westminster was causing problems for Fort Lewis in the middle by overloading the midfield by playing a 4-3-3 formation. With a quick halftime adjustment, the Skyhawks got their backline and midfield to work together more cohesively.
Fort Lewis outshot the Griffins, 10-8, as both teams took four shots on goal.
The Skyhawks will play host to Western State at 12:30 p.m. Friday in another RMAC contest.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
