Move on from the regular season; there’s postseason hardware to be won.
That’s the mantra for the Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team. A 10-7-1 regular season earned the Skyhawks the No. 5 seed in the postseason Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament, where they will visit fourth-seeded Metro State at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Auraria Field in Denver in the opening round.
FLC is looking to add to its trophy case despite a roller-coaster regular season. Losses to the likes of Adams State and UC-Colorado Springs and the Skyhawks’ first three-game losing streak in more than a decade were offset by quality wins over Colorado Mines, Midwestern State and Regis.
Wins such as the latter three have head coach Oige Kennedy hopeful his squad can make a run.
“Definitely focusing on that goal. We know the season as a whole hasn’t been what we wanted, but we know we have an opportunity to win a trophy Sunday,” Kennedy said Monday.
To get there, FLC has to get through the Roadrunners, a task easier said than done the last two years. Metro State has won the last three meetings, and the Roadrunners outscored FLC 6-1 in the two games the schools played this season.
“We’ve played twice, and we don’t feel we’ve given a good representation of ourselves,” Kennedy said.
The Skyhawks gave a much better representation of themselves last weekend, beating Colorado Mines 5-4 in double overtime Friday before routing Colorado Christian 7-0 on Sunday.
For those keeping track at home, that’s 12 goals in two games, illustrating the Skyhawks’ strongest suit this season – finding the back of the net. FLC is third in the RMAC in scoring average, and the 12 goals marked a strong turnaround after scoring just once in two games the previous weekend against Colorado Mesa and Metro State.
The biggest catalyst last weekend was freshman Tamino Kroeger, who won Division II and RMAC Player of the Week honors Tuesday. The German forward scored twice against Mines before scorching the nets for four goals Sunday.
“That was one of the disappointing things against Mesa and Metro was not to score because the one thing we’ve done all season is score goals,” Kennedy said.
While an NCAA Tournament appearance is out of the question (only the women receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament for winning confenence tournament championships), one more RMAC Tournament championship title would provide not only a building block for next year but a high note to end this one.
“I think it’s important. The program is built on winning trophies, and we have to continue that legacy,” Kennedy said.
rowens@durangoherald.com
Kroeger’s 6 goals lands 2 big honors
Tamino Kroeger helped carry the Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team to wins in its final two regular season games.
That kind of effort comes with some recognition.
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America named the freshman midfielder its Division II Player of the Week, while the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference seconded that honor Tuesday.
Kroeger scored two key goals in the Skyhawks’ 5-4 comeback win against Colorado Mines on Friday at home, and he found the back of the net with all four of his shots in a 7-0 victory Sunday at Colorado Christian in Lakewood.
It only was the third time a player scored four goals in a game in school history and the first since current assistant coach Cole Sweetser in 2005.
Both awards were the first of Kroeger’s career.
Regis goalkeeper Connor Adkisson was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week after he won both of his starts against Metro State and Colorado Mesa, posting seven saves and a 1.5 goals against average.
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Four Skyhawks represented FLC on the All-RMAC roster.
Maik Brandt was voted to the first team, Aaron Kloer the second team and Jordan Alexander and Austin Derksen the third team, the league announced Tuesday.
Brandt scored four goals on defense while playing in all 18 of the Skyhawks’ regular-season games this season.
Colorado Mines forward Tesho Akindele was named RMAC Player of the Year for the second consecutive year after leading the league with 18 goals and tying for the lead with nine assists.
Regis coach Tony McCall repeated as RMAC Coach of the Year. The Rangers went 11-2-1 in league play and won the RMAC regular-season championship.
Metro State’s Andrew Mejia won the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, and teammate Tyler Trujillo was named the RMAC Freshman of the Year.
Montezuma-Cortez High School alumnus and Colorado Mesa goalkeeper Micah Conrads was named the RMAC Goalkeeper of the Year.
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