It was a no-win situation for the Fort Lewis College and Angelo State University women’s soccer teams Friday.
A few minutes into the second half at Dirks Field, the match was sent into a lightning delay it never came out of because the three-hour rule. Under the rule, a match must reach 70 minutes within three hours of its start to count as a full match. Anything short ends as a no contest.
The no contest was especially tough for the Rams (1-1), who traveled more than 700 miles from San Angelo, Texas, to make it to Durango. The Rams also held a 3-1 lead when the lightning delay began.
Since it was a nonconference match, a reschedule is not required. The two programs discussed playing the game, which would have started over, Saturday, but Hall and Angelo State coach Travis McCorkle agreed not to put the players at risk.
“The conversation was about what’s best for the kids. You have to make that decision for them,” Fort Lewis head coach Jimmy Hall said. “We could have tried to play (Saturday) but then they would play back-to-back after already playing a half today, so it would have been basically three games in three days. That’s unhealthy. We’re fighting to get a longer season, and to throw our kids into that we’d be saying we don’t believe our kids need more rest. We need to support that and support our athletes.”
There was a brief moment in the delay where it looked like the match might resume. The teams were sent back onto the pitch to warm up, but after a couple minutes another lightning strike in the area forced the teams to clear the field one final time.
“I wanted to give the girls a chance to battle back,” Hall said. “I wanted to give them a chance to show that those mistakes were just mistakes and we could come back and win the game – and they’re more than capable of doing that.”
Fort Lewis had a good start to the match. In the third minute, keeper Britt Blomso played a long ball that forward Renee Terrell gathered and put past the Angelo State keeper to give the Skyhawks (0-1-1) an early 1-0 lead.
The Skyhawks stayed in control of the match for the next 30 minute, but then a barrage of goals in a matter of a few minutes saw the Rams take the lead.
“The first 30 minutes or so we possessed quite well, then a mental mistake trickled through the team,” Hall said.
In the 35th minute, Angelo State substitute Avery McNeme put a shot on goal that slipped through Blomso’s hands and arms when she bent down to scoop up the ball then rolled between her legs and into the goal. One minute later forward Trenadey Scott found the back of the net to make it 2-1 Angelo State. Then a couple minutes after Scott’s goal a cross played into the box deflected off a Skyhawk defender and into goal.
Fort Lewis will play at Western State (0-2-1) on Sunday in Gunnison.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
