The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team was edged 2-1 in overtime Sunday on the road against Westminster College.
It capped a heartbreaking weekend road trip for the Skyhawks (4-6-1 overall, 1-3-0 RMAC), which suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 15 Colorado Mesa University on Friday.
As they did Friday, the Skyhawks struck first, as junior midfielder Andres Hernandez connected on a bullet from 25 yards out that glanced off the right goal post and into the back of the net just 9:03 into the contest.
Fort Lewis would hold the 1-0 lead until the 49th minute, when Westminster (6-6-0 overall, 3-1-0 RMAC) pulled even on a goal from Luke Merrill.
It was one of the few scoring chances on the day for the Griffins as the Skyhawks owned an 18-11 advantage in shots and 7-4 edge in shots on goal. FLC also dominated the corner kick opportunities (7-2).
The score remained deadlocked at 1-1 until 4:50 remaining in the first overtime period, when Westminster netted the game-winner by Max Bingman via an assist from Kaden Amano.
Fort Lewis will look to shake off the tough weekend and rebound during homecoming week when it hosts Colorado State University Pueblo (3 p.m. Thursday) and the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (2:30 p.m. Sunday).
The Fort Lewis College women's soccer team competed in 110 minutes of scoreless Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference soccer action versus Adams State University on Sunday afternoon, settling for a 0-0 draw to wrap up the weekend road trip.
On Friday, FLC fell to Colorado Christian University, 3-0. CCU had a dominant performance offensively, racking up 23 shots to just 11 for FLC. The first half was the difference; the Cougars outshot the Skyhawks 13-1.
Against Adams, the Skyhawks held a 19-7 advantage in shots, including an 11-4 edge in shots on goal for the match.
“Today was a much better game for us. Whatever part of the mentality that was missing on Friday wasn't an issue today,” said head coach Damian Clarke. “The center of the pack played really well, and we worked for a shutout defensively. This game was a small step forward.”
The Fort Lewis College men’s cross-country team finished 10th in the field of 34 teams competing at the University of Alabama Huntsville Chargers XC Invite on Saturday.
The FLC women placed 11th out of 33 teams.
John Ngaruiya led the Skyhawks with a 36th-place 8k time of 24 minutes, 46.51 seconds. The junior’s finish was a five-second improvement on his time two weeks prior and has him knocking on the door of a fourth-place mark in FLC 8k history. Coming in next was senior Steven Nez in 49th place, with a time of 25:04.0.
Rounding out the five-man pack for the Skyhawks were junior Ricardo Trejo (72nd, 25:24.3), junior Elvis Chelak (92nd, 25:45.9), and sophomore Ethan Bartlett (106th, 25:53.8).
Leading the flock for the Skyhawk women in the 5k was senior Makiah Salzano who finished 41st out of 292 runners with a time of 18.18.51. Hot on her trail was junior Angel Curley, in 46th place with a time of 18:26.5.
Following FL’'s top two was freshman Katie Fankhouser (68th, 18:57.62), junior Taylor Murphy (72nd, 19:00.55), and junior Dorothy Elder (100th, 19:20.08).
The teams will next race in the RMAC championships Oct. 23 in Golden.
The Fort Lewis College men’s golf team completed the fall portions of its schedule this week, finishing 15th overall in a loaded field out at Wichita Falls Country Club in Texas.
Leading the Skyhawks, Nicholas Krantz tied for 34th overall with a tournament score of +5 (218), firing rounds of 73-68-77 and climbing as high as 18th in the 108-man field. Krantz did the bulk of his damage on par 5s, where he was -5 for the tournament; tied for the fourth-best mark in the tournament.
Darren Edwards, fresh off his RMAC Men’s Golfer of the Week honors, finished in a tie for 36th overall. Edwards shook off a tough Monday, when he shot 75-74 in succession, climbing 30 spots up the leader board Tuesday after a round of -1 (70).
The Fort Lewis College women’s golf team finished eighth overall at the Sam Proal Invitational held at the Pueblo Country Club.
Highlighting the tournament for the ladies was a pair of top 20 finishes turned in by juniors Brooke Sturtevant and Emma Tornroos.
Sturtevant flew up the leaderboard during Tuesday's final round as she gained 11 positions, thanks to her round of on1e-over 73 – seven strokes better than her first-round score of +8 (80) — to finish in a tie for 13th with at +9 (153). Sturtevant sank six birdies over the 36 holes, tied for the second most amongst all players.
Not far behind was Tornroos, who carded rounds of 76-79 to finish at +11 (155) in a tie for 19th overall.
The Skyhawks will conclude their fall schedule next Monday in Albuquerque.
