It was far from the week the Skyhawks had in mind.
The No. 16 Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team ended up on the wrong end of a rare 1-3 week and three-game losing streak after a 3-2 loss to Regis on Sunday in Denver.
Weather delays forced FLC (4-3-1, 1-3-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) into a busy four-game week. The Skyhawks beat Colorado Christian on Monday before suffering consecutive overtime losses against Adams State and UC-Colorado Springs.
“I think we’ve had a lot of adversity this last week with injuries, with travel between a lot of games, but there’s no excuses,” FLC head coach Oige Kennedy said.
On Sunday, FLC lost Elliot Prost in the 25th minute after a pair of yellow cards, and Regis (4-1-0, 3-1-0 RMAC) scored three times in the first 36 minutes to go up 3-0.
Fort Lewis, however, would respond with goals from Luke Lawrence and Maik Brandt before halftime to trim the lead to 3-2 despite playing down a man, and the Skyhawks held a 7-2 edge in corner kicks and were even in shots with the Rangers at 15. They just couldn’t quite grab an equalizer.
“The players showed they have character, showed they have fight,” Kennedy said.
“The performance (Sunday) can be a catalyst for the rest of the year.”
FLC welcomed back starting goalkeeper Ryan Schaul a day after getting captain and center back Johannes Sander back, although Kennedy said neither is at 100 percent. Schaul made four saves.
“They’re out there putting their bodies on the line for the team. That shows the strength and character they have,” Kennedy said of Sander and Schaul.
The Skyhawks finally will get back to a regular Friday-Sunday schedule, starting with a opportunity for retribution against Adams State at 3 p.m. Friday in Alamosa.
“I think, again, we controlled possession of the ball, and we had momentum going forward, which looked good and positive,” Kennedy said. “So there’s a lot of things we need to build on in practice.”
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