The Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team put in a resilient performance against No. 9 Colorado School of Mines Friday in Durango, as the Skyhawks (2-3-2, 1-1-2) kept an often frustrated but otherwise red-hot Orediggers’ offense off of the scoreboard for 90 minutes, as the teams were forced to go to extra time.
Neither team was able to find a winner in the extra period, and the game finished in a scoreless 0-0 draw.
For FLC head coach Damian Clarke, it was a much-deserved, hard-fought point.
“Just tremendous,” Clarke said. “The composure to not give away a pass when you’re trying to make a pass, and make the right choices, such as smashing the ball long and getting it out of danger, was there for them. They began to believe in themselves, their decisions and a game plan that was tough.”
Mines (8-1, 4-0 RMAC) has averaged 22 shots per game during the 2019 campaign, but was held to just five in the first half. Coming into Friday’s match, the Orediggers were the highest scoring team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with 29 goals, and had given up just five. They were unable to make it 30 goals.
Mines’ Jordan Barnhart had two good looks on goal, both of which came from set pieces. In the 41st minute, she tried to float in a shot from 40 yards out on a free kick, but Fort Lewis’ senior goalkeeper Britt Blomso tipped the shot over the crossbar for a corner kick.
With 19 seconds remaining in the half, Barnhart’s close-range free kick from just outside the 18-yard box was also saved, as Blomso saw the low shot and dove to her left.
Fort Lewis’ only shot came from senior midfielder Emma Patron, but her shot from long range went over the crossbar and was not on frame.
Clarke opted to switch out goalkeepers at the start of the second half, as freshman Kate Dunbabin replaced Blomso. The freshman fared well in net, and made two good saves in the opening 20 minutes of the half. In the 60th minute, Lindsey Tornabene had a shot from long distance on the left-hand side, but Dunbabin tipped the shot over the bar.
“Our coaches gave us a really good game plan to start the game and we stayed with it for the whole match,” Dunbabin said. “Everyone was fighting the whole time. We were trying to defend as a unit and it worked really well. Heading into the match at half, I was nervous. But when you see your back line working as hard as that, it made me want to keep the clean sheet at all costs because they were fearless.”
The Orediggers’ best chance to finally find the breakthrough came shortly after, as Megan Trent kept the ball out of the net as she headed a shot off of the goal line.
“I thought that the discipline was phenomenal from Megan Trent, her, Katie (Smith), both of them did a phenomenal job,” Clarke said. “Ashley Strader was an absolute stallion. That’s a complete performance for us against a team that good.”
In the 76th minute, Barnhart had another set piece shot from 35-yards out, but the Skyhawks keeper made another save over the bar. The ensuing corner kick never entered the field of play and went out for a goal kick. The Orediggers were visibly frustrated after they were unable to convert on six second-half corner kicks.
In the 88th minute, the Skyhawks created just their second corner kick of the match, but it was cleared away. The Orediggers had one final chance off of a late free kick with 30 seconds remaining, but it flew over the goal and did not threaten.
Mines’ head coach Kevin Fickes thought his side created a healthy number of chances, but added he thought his team would have found the back of the net after 110 minutes.
“If there’s anything I am disappointed in my team, it’s that they didn’t match the intensity of Fort Lewis,” Fickes said. “We could have done better with that. I didn’t think we created that to be fair. We’re not used to having the ball a lot in our own half and it was a very new experience to be on top of a team, and just them taking care of the dangerous part of the field and in their own box.”
In the first extra period, Mines’ Emma Peterson hit a shot from 40 yards up, but the wind kept the ball up and it hit the crossbar, after it looked like it would go well over the crossbar.
With eight minutes remaining, Barnhart had a header after Peterson delivered in an enticing ball from a free kick, but Barnhart’s header was wide left. Peterson had one last chance off of yet another Mines’ corner kick, but the shot skewed just wide with just over 90 seconds remaining.
The Skyhawks will host Colorado Christian (4-4-1, 2-2-1 RMAC) at noon Sunday at Dirks Field.
bploen@durangoherald.com
