There might as well be a wall in front of the Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team’s goal this season. The Skyhawks haven’t allowed a goal yet this season and are still undefeated because of it.
FLC continued its winning ways on Saturday with a 2-0 home victory against Lubbock Christian University. The Skyhawks improved to 3-0-1 overall with the victory and are off to their best start since 2013. Lubbock Christian fell to 2-2 overall with the loss.
“That's probably the best they've played so far,” FLC women’s soccer head coach Damian Clarke said about his team. “They continue to get a little bit better in every game. Lubbock Christian is a good team on a similar level to St. Mary's and St. Edward’s. So, it was a good test. We're pretty happy with how we kept the ball; pretty happy with how dangerous at times we were. Having the forward score two goals is always a good thing.”
The Skyhawks outshot Lubbock Christian 9-3 in the first half and one of those shots went in. Junior forward Jenna Salazar was in the right place to handle the rebound of junior midfielder Ann Spence’s shot and put it in the back of the net from close range for the 1-0 lead 35 minutes into the game.
FLC took that 1-0 lead into halftime and Salazar scored again in the 51st minute for a 2-0 Skyhawk lead.
“She's really opportunistic … and she's sneaky,” Clarke said about Salazar. “She opens up gaps for the other team that they think they can play the ball through and she's baiting them into it. She's a poacher as a goal scorer. She's going to find something in the box, find ways to score goals in unsuspecting moments.”
Skyhawk freshman goalie Trinity Lujan finished the game with five saves. Clarke credited the defense with competing physically hard; he knows his team may make some technical and tactical mistakes, but he trusts his defense won’t make any effort mistakes.
Next up for FLC is at No. 2 Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Broncos are undefeated and are the defending national champions.
Clarke has known Cal Poly Pomona head coach Jay Mason for a long time. Clarke expects a Broncos squad that will play fast, be super athletic, play two-touch soccer and be very good in the counter attack.
The game against Cal Poly Pomona starts a brutal stretch of games for the Skyhawks; FLC’s next six opponents are either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA Division II – National poll.
“We're happy with where the group's at,” Clarke said. “We know we're going to learn a lot in these next six games … we’ll try and take this one step at a time and be grateful for the opportunities that we have to play such high-level teams. If you want to be a high-level team, you got to try and play against teams that are at the level that you're at, or better. Without a doubt, this is going to be a pretty awesome experience these next few weeks for this program.”
The Skyhawks volleyball program is killing it with plenty of kills and wins. FLC is off to its best start in 15 years after three wins at the Lubbock Christian Tournament last weekend.
FLC beat Eastern New Mexico on Friday, 3-2, Lubbock Christian on Saturday, 3-2, and Southwestern Oklahoma State, 3-1 on Saturday. The Skyhawks are 6-1 overall and have won five consecutive games as they enter Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
On Friday, the Skyhawks beat Eastern New Mexico 27-25, 23-25, 17-25, 25-13 and 16-14. Junior outside hitter Jordan DeJesus led the Skyhawks with 21 kills, followed by freshman outside hitter Cambria Freymuth’s 13 kills. Freshman setter Arianna Reyna led the team with 32 assists and sophomore setter Addie Garn had 24 assist.
FLC beat Lubbock Christian on Saturday 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-13. Freymuth led FLC with 20 kills, DeJesus added 15 kills and junior outside hitter Alina Nunez added 13 kills. Reyna finished with 40 assists and Garn added 19.
The Skyhawks finished the Lubbock Christian Tournament by beating Southwestern Oklahoma State 25-15, 23-25, 25-19 and 25-20. Senior middle blocker Ella Butler led FLC with 16 kills, followed by DeJesus’ 12. Reyna finished with 23 assists and Garn had 12.
Next for FLC is its first home game of the season against Black Hills State on Friday at 6 p.m. to open RMAC play.
The Skyhawks men’s soccer team is still looking for a dominant performance. In fact, FLC has trailed in all four games this season.
However, FLC is still undefeated after tying No. 17 St. Mary’s University 1-1 on the road on Saturday. The tie moved both teams to 1-0-2 overall.
St. Mary’s struck first with a goal in the 24th minute. After halftime, freshman forward Alessio Andreottola responded with the equalizer in the 67th minute.
The Skyhawks tied despite outshooting St. Mary’s 15-10. However, St. Mary’s had a 6-3 edge in shots on goal. The Skyhawks also had 17 fouls compared to only eight for St. Mary’s.
FLC returns home to play Simon Fraser University on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The FLC men’s and women’s golf have been mediocre so far. This continued with both teams’ tournaments earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the Skyhawks men’s team finished fifth out of 12 teams at the Travis Roy Memorial Invitational at The Powder Horn Golf Community in Sheridan, Wyoming. The women finished ninth out of 14 schools at the RJGA Shootout at Estrella at the Golf Club of Estrella in Goodyear, Arizona.
The FLC men finished fifth at 18-over-par as a team after two 18-hole rounds over two days. Colorado Mesa won the tournament at 13-under-par, followed by CSU Pueblo in second at 10-under-par and Colorado Christian in third at 4-over-par.
Redshirt junior Traejan Andrews led the Skyhawks with a tied-ninth place finish at even par. He shot 2-over-par in his first round and 2-under-par in his second round. Senior Jake Chesler was the other Skyhawk inside the top 20; he finished his round tied-14th at 3-over-par. Chesler was 4-over-par in Round 1 and 1-under-par in Round 2.
Dylan Everett from Colorado Mesa won the tournament at 8-under-par.
The Skyhawks women finished ninth at the RJGA Shootout at Estrella with a team score of 43-over-par. Cal State San Marcos won the tournament at 3-over-par, followed by Cal State LA in second at 9-over-par and Cal State East Bay at 15-over-par in third.
Freshman Kathryn Moores was the Skyhawks’ highest finisher in tied-22nd at 7-over-par. Moores shot 2-over-par in her first round and 5-over-par in her second round.
Theresa Shaw from Vanguard University won the tournament at 3-under-par.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
