It’s officially a new winning streak for Fort Lewis College men’s soccer.
After a tough 2-0 home loss to No. 8 Regis (9-1, 5-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference), the Skyhawks have bounced back with two wins against Adams State on Friday and CSU-Pueblo on Saturday.
“We saw Pueblo beat Metro State at home last week, and Mines barely escaped here with a win Friday, so we knew it would be a good challenge,” FLC head coach Oige Kennedy said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It is a difficult place for people to go and get a result this year, and we are happy to get one.”
FLC (7-3, 5-1 RMAC) received goals from Luke Lawrence and Elliot Prost in a 2-1 victory Saturday at the Rawlings Sports Complex in Pueblo.
Play was even on the statistics sheet, but the Skyhawks had a 2-0 lead before they surrendered one late goal to Zach Davis of the ThunderWolves (2-8, 1-5 RMAC) in the game’s final 3 minutes.
“Both teams probably had similar amounts of shots, but the good, quality chances were one sided. We controlled the game up until the last 5 minutes when they got their goal,” Kennedy said. “We created some good chances early, and their keeper (Sam Haseltine) made some good saves.”
Haseltine made six saves for the ThunderWolves, and Ryan Schaul made five in goal for FLC to improve to 6-1 between the posts this season.
Prost scored the first goal of the game in the 56th minute. He received a pass from Tamino Kroeger at the top of the box and let a shot rip.
“He had a big knee injury last year and was out for awhile. He worked really hard to get ready for his senior year and came back healthy,” Kennedy said of Prost, who scored his first goal of the season. “He picked up another injury last week but picked himself up again and scored. We are delighted for him.”
Lawrence’s goal was his third of the season. It came in the 72nd minute and was unassisted.
FLC will return home for what Kennedy called “two massive games” Friday and Sunday against No. 12 Metro State (7-2, 4-2 RMAC) and Colorado Mines (7-4, 5-2 RMAC), respectively.
“Fort Lewis players usually get excited to play top-quality opponents, and, unfortunately, those chances don’t come as much as you would like. Metro and Mines, those are back-to-back quality teams, and we are excited. We will have a good week of practice and work to get a good result.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
