Midwestern State has had an entire offseason to prepare for a grudge match with the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks.
The date finally has arrived, and the two teams will square off in the men’s season opener at 3 p.m. Friday at Dirks Field on the FLC campus.
Though they don’t share a conference, FLC and Midwestern State both compete in the South Central Region, and the game has special significance for the two regional foes.
Last season, the Skyhawks upset the Mustangs with a 3-1 victory in the season opener in Wichita Falls, Texas.
“Midwestern is a great team coming in here, and I know they’ll be up for it having lost to us last year at their place,” FLC head coach Oige Kennedy said after his team’s annual alumni game last Saturday at Dirks Field. “It was the first time a Colorado school has beat them down there in Texas.”
The Mustangs enter the season ranked No. 12 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll. They finished last season 12-4-2 before they eventually fell 2-1 in overtime to Regis in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Regis will begin the season ranked No. 10 in the NSCAA poll, and fellow RMAC school Colorado Mines also is ranked ahead of Midwestern State in the South Central Region, even though the Orediggers do not appear in the NSCAA poll. The Mustangs enter the season ranked No. 3 in the South Central Region, and the Skyhawks are unranked.
But, with star midfielder Yannis Becker back in the lineup one year removed from knee surgery, the Skyhawks believe they have what it takes to get back into contention, and it all starts against the Mustangs.
“This game couldn’t come soon enough. We are ready to play,” Kennedy said. “It will take our best performance to come out with the game, but the guys are up to the task.”
Becker scored one of his four goals last season against Midwestern State. Fully healthy, he will lead a dangerous FLC attack with players such as sophomore midfielder Tamino Kroeger, sophomore forward Luke Lawrence and two-time senior transfer Cesar Castillo, who scored twice in the alumni game in his first exhibition at Dirks Field.
The Skyhawks also boast a stout back line, and goalkeeping is Kennedy’s lone concern as the Skyhawks prepare to enter the season. Kennedy has senior Ryan Pakieser and junior Ryan Schaul to choose from.
The Mustangs have their leading scorer from 2013, Len Smith, back for his senior season. The Skyhawks will look to stop the man who scored eight goals and delivered two assists a season ago. Chase Robertson, a senior defender, also will enter this season as the leading assist man for the Mustangs a season ago with six.
“They are tough to stop, for sure, but playing at home gives us a nice advantage,” Kennedy said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
