The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team didn’t have a shutout for the first seven weeks of the season.
FLC has had two in the last five days.
The Skyhawks bounced back nicely from a disastrous 5-0 loss to CSU Pueblo on Oct. 19 and won 1-0 vs. Colorado School of Mines on Sunday and 5-0 vs. Colorado Christian on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s game against Colorado Christian was unique. It started on Oct. 3 in Durango and FLC led 3-0 in Durango early in the second half. Mother Nature put a stop to things with lightning and resumed at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood on Tuesday. FLC scored two goals in the last 15 minutes of the game in Lakewood for the dominant 5-0 victory.
“It would have been really easy to walk in feeling really comfortable and just content with where it was at,” FLC men’s soccer head coach David Oberholtzer said. “On top of that, we traveled Tuesday morning as well. So anytime you’re traveling six hours and having to play the same days is a challenge and not our typical routine … the mentality of the group was really on point and they wanted to put on a good performance.”
FLC improved to 7-3-4 overall with the win and 3-2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with the win over the Cougars. Freshmen forwards Alessio Andreottola and Yohann Fila each had two goals for FLC. Sophomore Fabrizio Aguilera added a goal.
Andreottola got the scoring started in Durango on Oct. 3 after a delay. He scored 11 minutes into the game. Senior Casey Stracher played a beautiful ball into the 18-yard box with his left foot from about 30 yards out on the left side. The curling ball found a flying Andreottola, who guided the ball into the left side of the net with his shin for a 1-0 FLC lead.
Less than four minutes into the second half in Durango, Andreottola had one of the highlight goals of the year.
The Skyhawks attacked from the right side, starting with Andreottola playing the ball into freshman Lorenz Guintini, who had a quick give-and-go with freshman Francisco Pinto at the top of the 18-yard box. Guintini then laid the ball off with his heel for Andreottola. The French freshman shot a rocket from 25 yards out that destroyed the top left corner of the net. His wonder strike gave FLC a 2-0 lead with 41 minutes left in the second.
Right before the game was paused in Durango, Fila intercepted a ball deep in Colorado Christian’s half and the deflection went into the goal for the 3-0 lead with 40 minutes left.
Once the game resumed in Lakewood, Fila’s defense led to FLC’s two late goals. He stole the ball from the Colorado Christian right back and found the goal from the left side by firing in between the keeper’s legs with about 14 minutes left.
With five minutes left, Fila stole another ball on the left side. He fired a shot that was saved to Aguilera, who then found the lower left corner from outside the 18-yard box for the 5-0 lead.
On Sunday, FLC achieved its first shutout of the year against Colorado School of Mines. It looked like that wouldn’t be the case for FLC when Colorado School of Mines was awarded a penalty kick in the 65th minute. FLC junior Lucas Martin made the stop to keep the game at 0-0.
It was a freshman-to-freshman connection for the game-winner for FLC. Andreottola found Guintini for a header in the 89th minute. The Skyhawks outshot the Orediggers, 24-8 and had a 10-5 advantage with shots on goal.
“We really did everything, but just put the ball in the back of the net,” Oberholtzer said. “We created good chances and they were good opportunities. The keeper made a couple of good saves. I'm sure some of our attacking players probably wish they had a couple of those chances back because they were chances that our guys typically finish. It was definitely a game where we felt like it could have been a lot more comfortable.”
Oberholtzer also emphasized with his group that they can’t expect the offense to score three goals every game and the defense will have to step up in games like the one on Sunday.
FLC will play at South Dakota Mines on Thursday at 5 p.m. After that, the Skyhawks will have road games at Regis on Sunday and at Adams State on Wednesday to finish the regular season. FLC is currently fifth in the RMAC, although the Skyhawks should win all three of those games. FLC could be a top-four seed again and host a conference tournament game.
Oberholtzer isn’t worried about the projections and what could happen. He’s only focused on the next game.
After beating Regis, 1-0, on Sunday, the Skyhawks women’s soccer team’s unbeaten streak extended to six games.
During that time, FLC’s stellar defense hasn’t allowed a single goal.
FLC senior forward Abigail Nkrumah had her first goal of the season in the 65th minute against Regis to lead FLC to one of its most impressive wins of the season.
“The Regis win isn't nearly as big of an accomplishment if you don't take care of the win at Black Hills on Friday,” FLC women’s soccer head coach Damian Clarke said. “That's (Black Hills State) a tough environment … Regis is legit. It's only been twice that we played against someone that had more possession than us. Our girls were pretty composed in not having the ball as much as they're used to which is different for them.”
FLC is 2-0-1 in its last three games despite only scoring two goals. Clarke said he feels like his team is always good for a goal, but the team still has some growing pains in the attacking third to find those multigoal games.
Clarke thinks junior forward Jenna Salazar could change the team’s offensive fortunes. Leading the team with seven goals, if Salazar continues to score, it’ll open up the offense for other Skyhawks and her play can give them confidence.
FLC is 8-4-2 overall and 5-2-1 in the RMAC after the Regis win; FLC hasn’t lost since Sept. 28. Regis dropped to 9-3-4 overall and 5-2-3 in the RMAC.
The Skyhawks have three winnable games remaining in the regular season. FLC plays at home against Colorado Christian on Friday at 7 p.m., at home against MSU Denver on Sunday and at Western Colorado University on Wednesday. If FLC wins all three of these games, it’ll host an RMAC tournament quarterfinal game and put itself in position to potentially get into the NCAA tournament.
The FLC volleyball team’s recent road trip was a success with a 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-15) win at Adams State on Friday and a 3-2 (25-13, 18-25, 23-25, 25-13, 18-16) win at New Mexico Highlands on Saturday.
FLC improved to 14-5 overall and 8-2 in the RMAC after the two wins. The 14 wins are the most in a season since 2010.
Junior outside hitter Alina Nunez led the Skyhawks with 15 kills against Adams State. Junior outside hitter Jordan DeJesus added 12 kills. Senior middle blocker Ella Butler had a career-high nine blocks. Freshman defensive specialist Alyx Daugherty led FLC with 25 digs and freshman setter Arianna Reyna led the team with 25 assists.
Against New Mexico Highlands, Nunez led the team with 14 kills and DeJesus added 13. Daugherty led the team with 18 digs and Reyna led the team with 28 assists.
FLC returns home to host UCCS and Colorado School of Mines in a power pod. The Skyhawks will play UCCS on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Colorado School of Mines on Saturday at 3 p.m. Neither game will count for the RMAC standings.
The Skyhawks men’s and women’s cross country teams both finished fifth at the RMAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday, although the teams accomplished their finishing positions in different ways.
FLC’s women’s squad was led by two All-RMAC performers, while the men finished fifth with a pack-style race.
Senior Hannah Hartwell led the Skyhawks women with her fourth-place finish in the women’s 6-kilometer race at Monument Valley Park XC Course in Colorado Springs. Hartwell finished in 20 minutes and 45.47 seconds. Grace Strongman from Colorado School of Mines won the race in 20:06.67.
Fellow FLC senior Alliyah Molina finished 16th in 21:39.6. Senior Althea Griffith finished 44th in 22:29, freshman Carysa Marquez finished 45th in 22:29.42 and senior Marisol Castilleja was the final scorer for FLC in 69th in 23:25.1.
The top five finishing positions from each school were added up for the team scores. Colorado School of Mines won with 28 points, UCCS was second with 68 points and Adams State was third with 84 points. FLC came in fifth with 161 points.
On the men’s side, FLC finished fifth with 173 points. Adams State was first with 32 points, Colorado School of Mines was second with 41 points and Western Colorado was third with 58 points.
“Fifth is a great spot,” FLC cross country head coach Dalton Graham said. “Only getting beat by the first, third, eighth and 12th-ranked team in Division II isn’t too bad.”
In the men’s 8K race, FLC was led by redshirt freshman Evan Morozowich in 30th in 25:30.49. Running for Colorado School of Mines, Durango’s Paul Knight won the race in 23:50.43.
“He believes in what he's doing,” Graham said about Morozowich. “He was, I think, a high 16-minute 5K guy in high school and now he's just competing with some of the best guys in the country … that's the example of showing up every day, living here in the summer, being at every single run we talk about. Every single thing we put down on a to-do list, he’s checking that box.”
Behind Morozowich was junior Cesar Diaz in 32nd in 25:33.16, redshirt freshman Cooper Filmore in 39th in 25:45.05, redshirt freshman Brody Hubbard in 43rd in 25:53.09, redshirt freshman Crewe Resendez in 44th in 25:54.56 to round out the scoring positions.
The FLC cross country teams move on to the South Central Regional Championships in Pueblo on Nov. 8. Graham is confident the team can qualify for the national championships in Wisconsin on Nov. 22.
The FLC football team is still looking for its first RMAC win after its 24-14 loss at Colorado Mesa on Saturday.
FLC scored first and the game was 7-7 after the first quarter. Colorado Mesa then stretched its leas to 17-7 at halftime and led 24-7 after three quarters. Despite the loss, it was an improvement over last season’s 49-0 loss at home to Colorado Mesa.
“At the game, I was disappointed because you can feel different plays or different situations that were under our control that we didn't control,” FLC football head coach Johnny Cox said. “But as you look at it from a program perspective, it's definitely a lot of growth. The competitions are getting tighter and those hurt more. It doesn't feel better. It feels worse when you're a few situations away.”
The Skyhawks dropped to 1-7 overall and 0-6 in the RMAC. Colorado Mesa improved to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the RMAC.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jacob Morris finished 12/22 passing for 106 yards and a touchdown for the Skyhawks. Morris was put into a bigger role after injuries to redshirt sophomore quarterback Stone Walker and redshirt freshman Jake Jones. Cox said he only expects Jones to return to the field this season. Redshirt junior running back KB Broadus completed a pass for a touchdown.
Broadus was also the team’s top rusher and finished with 14 carries for 63 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Solomon Latimer led FLC with four catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. Freshman tight end Michael Collins had three catches for 28 yards and a touchdown.
Redshirt junior linebacker Jake Penney led FLC with 21 total tackles.
Colorado Mesa did most of its damage on the ground with 278 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Cox said he knew the Mavericks would run a lot and he was very happy with his defense’s effort.
The Skyhawks have one of their best opportunities for an RMAC win this season on Saturday at home against Adams State. The Grizzlies are 0-8 overall, 0-6 in the RMAC and are last in the RMAC in points per game and points allowed per game. Last season, FLC won 27-17 at Adams State.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
