Two days after losing to the No. 13 team in the country by one at home, the Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse team faced a completely different animal in the No. 5 team on the road.
No. 5 Florida Southern College defeated the Skyhawks 16-6 on Monday in Lakeland, Fla.
The Moccasins outshot FLC (5-3, 2-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Confernece) 27-16 and put 25 shots on goal compared to 10 for the Skyhawks.
FLC goalkeeper and Durango High School alumna Alyssa Spencer made nine saves in the game.
Brooke Wineland led the Skyhawks with three goals while Marissa DiCecco, Jessica Norby and Jam Vertner also scored.
Florida Southern scored four unasnwered goals before Norby scored with an assist by Ellie Carpenter.
FLC trailed 8-1 at halftime after the Moccasins poured in three goals in the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds of the first half.
The Skyhawks were more satisfied by scoring five goals in the second half.
“In the first half we were trying more to possess the ball so our defense could get a break,” FLC head coach Kelsey MacDonald said. “The fact that we were playing with them, we were still in the game. We proved to ourselves that we can play with them.”
The Skyhawks won the draw control battle 14-11 and committed 15 fewer fouls, but the Skyhawks turned the ball over 27 times in the game.
“We threw the ball away way too much,” MacDonald said. “That’s just frustrating because we were only playing against ourselves.”
Megan Asper and Caitlin Chase led Florida Southern with five goals each, while Chase accrued five assists as well.
The loss is second in a row for the Skyhawks, which is the team’s first losing streak of the season. The six goals were tied the team’s mark for fewest goals in a game this year, and the 16 goals by the Moccasins are the most the Skyhawks have surrendered in a game this year.
FLC will stay in Florida for the next few days at a rented villa.
MacDonald cooked the team’s postgame meal Monday, and FLC will take a day off Tuesday to bond as a team.
They’ll practice Wednesday and will play Saint Leo University at 2 p.m. Thursday in Saint Leo, Fla.
heraldsports@ durangoherald.com
