Fort Lewis College men’s soccer’s first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win couldn’t have come at a better time against a better opponent.
After going 0-1-1 last weekend and allowing seven goals, the No.18-ranked Skyhawks responded with a 3-1 victory over No. 22 University of Colorado Colorado Springs at home on Friday night.
The Skyhawks took about 40 minutes to figure out their opponent. But when they did, the Skyhawks scored three goals in 46 minutes for their first ranked win of the year and handed UCCS its first RMAC loss.
Oh, don’t forget that FLC was without arguably its best offensive player in star freshman forward Alessio Andreottola.
“It was immense; it was huge,” FLC head coach David Oberholtzer said. “Obviously, we struggled last weekend and that was really disappointing for us. We knew that this was going to be a defining moment. The guys were up for the task. It was a full-team effort and I’m really proud of the guys.”
FLC improved to 5-2-4 overall and 1-1-2 in the RMAC with the win. UCCS dropped to 6-4-3 overall and 4-1-0 in the RMAC after the loss. Redshirt senior Skyhawk Quinn Bosanko had a goal and an assist, freshman forward Lorenz Guintini had a goal, freshman midfielder Raul Baptista Filipe had a goal and Francisco Pinto had an assist. Junior goalkeeper Lucas Martin had two saves for FLC.
After last weekend’s defensive disaster, the Skyhawks’ defense looked good in the first 15 minutes, not allowing UCCS to put a shot on goal.
“We had just been allowing people to be way too comfortable near our goal,” Oberholtzer said. “Teams had too much time and space; it’s something we did address. We did a much better job tonight ... the work rate and the mentality from the entire group was really top level.”
FLC’s offense lacked the playmaking and explosiveness in the first 20 minutes without Andreottola on the right side. Andreottola had to miss a game because of the red card he picked up in Sunday’s match against Colorado Mesa.
The Skyhawks just couldn’t find that pass or move one-on-one in the attacking third in the first 20 minutes and looked a little flat offensively.
Freshman forward Yohann Fila had FLC’s first great chance came with about 21 minutes left. The UCCS center back struggled to handle a ball in the air and Fila was ready to pounce. He stole the ball and put a shot on cage, but the Mountain Lion keeper stretched out to make the stop.
FLC really struggled to maintain possession like it has in previous home games. Long balls were played to no one and it seemed like the Skyhawks weren’t on the same page a lot of the time.
The Skyhawks finally capitalized on offense with less than three minutes to go. UCCS had a throw-in which was headed away right to Guintini inside his own half with miles of space. He was off and running after that on a two-on-one breakaway with Fila. Guintini hit the ball over the keeper and into the top of the net for the lead.
FLC’s pressure nearly led to a second early in the second half. The UCCS keeper had to get off his line to clear the ball. Fila retrieved it and chipped the keeper, only for the ball to hit the crossbar.
Energy was the theme of the first 10 minutes for the Skyhawks. FLC looked like it was moving faster on defense and pressuring with better energy.
The Skyhawks doubled their lead with 29 minutes left. Bosanko stepped in front of a pass in the midfield, took a touch and rifled a ripper on the ground from 25 yards out into the lower left corner for a 2-0 lead.
“It’s kind of been a longstanding running joke with Quinn not being able to score,” Oberholtzer said. “I think he had a goal last year, but it was some wonky deflection. The guys have been giving him a hard time for a while so it was really fun to see (him score). The guys are really excited for him.”
UCCS had the response off a corner kick. The ball was played into the 18-yard box and wasn’t cleared. Cole Wearner smashed it into the lower left corner with 17 minutes left.
The entire game had been chippy, but the refs lost control with 15 minutes left. A UCCS player attempted a challenge, but missed and hit a Skyhawk near his face with his cleat. A shoving match ensued and it took over five minutes for the refs to sort it out.
FLC nearly put the game away in the next five minutes with multiple great chances around the net that missed the cage.
Finally, Baptista Felipe had the finishing touch. Pinto found a streaking and open Baptista Felipe down the middle of the 18-yard box. Baptista Felipe touched it and finished it to the right of the keeper and into the corner of the net with 1:17 left.
The Skyhawks stay at home to play No. 23 CSU Pueblo on Sunday at 1 p.m. CSU Pueblo beat FLC, 2-1, in Pueblo on Sept. 28.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
