After a tough road trip to start the year, a youthful 2015 Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team will have the opportunity to make a good first impression on the hometown crowd this weekend.
The Skyhawks dropped their first two matches of the season, a 3-1 loss to No. 20 Midwestern State and a 1-0 setback at the hands of No. 12 St. Edwards, but head coach Oige Kennedy is encouraged by what he’s seen.
“The trip to Texas to start the season is always a tough one, especially with a young team,” Kennedy said Thursday in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We hung in there with two top-20 teams and I hope that the challenge we faced will end up being a useful tool for us to build off of.”
That building process will start at Friday’s home opener, a 3 p.m. tilt against West Texas A&M (1-1) at Dirks Field on the FLC campus. The Buffaloes are coming off a dramatic 4-3 victory over Texas A&M International, but Fort Lewis has come out on top the last three times the schools have met.
FLC will get a day off and face St. Mary’s (1-1), at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Led by junior midfielder and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year Yannis Becker, and the senior leadership of forward Zac Lawrence, goalkeeper Ryan Schaul and forward Austin Derksen, the Skyhawks’ roster is a bit short on experience. What they lack in age should be made up with a stockpile of young talent.
Freshman midfielder Laurin Weiland has the only goal thus far for Fort Lewis. Another freshman, Nicolas Perez, led the team in shots on goal against St. Edwards. Two redshirt freshmen and Colorado natives Sean Cleary (Colorado Springs) and Coleman Kane (Fort Collins) have played every minute of the season thus far. Returning sophomores Alex Tillberry and Malik Badawi are key contributors to the back line.
The team will also rely on freshman goalkeeper Elliott Chadderton to replace a suspended Schaul in Friday’s matchup. Schaul received a red card last Sunday and is forced to miss the game because of the infraction.
“Young guys are valuable because they bring so much enthusiasm and energy to the game,” Kennedy said. “They’ve got to show that they have the capacity to learn and if they are able to do that, improve everyday and bring focus to go along with the enthusiasm, they’ll be valuable assets to this program.”
Regardless of experience, the excitement and energy level should be at a peak for the opening weekend at Dirks Field.
“We’re always excited to play at home, but the opening game in front of the home crowd is always a bit more special,” Kennedy added. “This is a program where we expect to win games, win tournaments and compete for the national title, so we have to be ready and excited to play every game.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
