On a night when the offense was firing on all cylinders, Fort Lewis College junior Aymaro Vargas stole the show with a hat trick to lead the FLC men’s soccer team past Adams State University 6-0 on Tuesday.
“Definitely good to get our first win of the season, and getting to experience that at Dirks Field under the lights is a great feeling,” said head coach David Oberholtzer. “I thought it was a great performance from the group tonight from start to finish. To keep the shutout alongside scoring a handful of goals was good for the group. I'm very happy with tonight overall and the progress we continue to make.”
The win elevates Fort Lewis to 1-0-2 overall. Adams State drops to 0-3-0.
The Skyhawks tied Lubbock Christian University 0-0 on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, despite playing down a man for nearly 70 minutes after goalie Brendan Oberg was called for an intentional handball outside of the box.
The Skyhawks also began their season with a tie on Aug. 25 against the University of Texas Permian Basin 1-1 after Gabriel Legendre netted the equalizer for FLC with just seconds left.
On Tuesday against Adams, the Skyhawks put on an offensive clinic. FLC outshot the Grizzlies 23-7 and connected for six goals on its 11 shots on goal. ASU placed just one shot on goal all evening.
Vargas began his onslaught in just the 10th minute, connecting on a goal with assists from Legendre and Loic Jean-Baptiste.
Legendre found the net just minutes later, scoring in the 16th minute with an assist credited to Kaden Schufft.
Without skipping a beat, the Skyhawks and Vargas continued to press the Grizzlies, and Vargas netted his second goal in the 23rd minute with an assist from Tomas Duenes.
The Grizzlies managed two shots in the second half. Meanwhile, Vargas picked up where he left off, scoring his third goal in the 54th minute with another assist from Duenes.
Taking to the pitch in the 55th minute, Henrik Hake made an immediate impact. Hake scored his first collegiate goal in an empty net after beating the Grizzlies’ keeper one-on-one.
Sophomore Jakob Maurek also made the most of his 25 minutes off the bench, scoring his first goal this season eight minutes after coming onto the pitch to put FLC up 6-0.
Goalie Evan Kowalski made one save for FLC to collect his first collegiate shutout in goal.
Next, the Skyhawks will head to Grand Junction for the Colorado Mesa Men's Soccer Showcase and take on a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference Opponents. FLC will play Simon Fraser University on Sept. 8 and Montana State University Billings on Sept. 10.
