An early Fort Lewis College goal didn’t put a scare in the Regis Rangers.
Regis, the top seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women’s soccer tournament, scored six unanswered goals to beat the eighth-seeded Skyhawks 6-1 on Tuesday in Denver.
Alicia “Cooper” Sanchez scored her fifth goal of the season in the sixth minute Tuesday. She took a pass from Jenna Brown and blasted a left-footed shot toward the center of goal. The ball dipped below the crossbar and into the hands of Regis goalkeeper Julia Coombs, who tried to catch the ball but fell across the goal line while juggling it to give the Skyhawks a quick 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Regis (14-2-2, 11-0-1 RMAC) tied to game when Tori Rinsem scored her first of two goals in the match. Rikki Fix scored in the 23rd minute to give the Rangers the lead for good.
FLC was out shot 26-4 in the match three days after being out shot 27-1 in a 6-0 loss to Colorado Mines to end the regular season.
Akina Fujimoto, Julia Masciarelli and Cate Parchinski all scored for the Rangers. FLC goalkeeper Kaylee Mickens made four saves and allowed one goal for the Skyhawks. Ali Miller started and allowed five goals and made four saves.
The Skyhawks finished the season 4-11-1 overall and 4-8 in the RMAC with a 2-4 home record. FLC finished on a five-game losing streak.
FLC gave up 32 goals in 16 games this season and scored only 17. The Skyhawks were shutout five times and recorded one shutout of their own.
A handful of Skyhawks were honored in the postseason awards Tuesday.
Sanchez, who finished the year with five goals, was named to the All-RMAC Second Team. The senior from Albuquerque finished her FLC career with 20 goals.
FLC defender Mia Castaneda also was named to the second team. The freshman had two assists and started all 16 games this year.
Miller, a junior, was nominated to the honorable mention list at goalkeeper. In 10 games this year, Miller allowed 11 goals and made 60 saves. She was 3-6-1 in goal and had one shutout. She also recorded one assist.
CSU-Pueblo Mackenzie Bean, who led the conference in points with 26 and goals with 12, was named the RMAC Player of the Year. Colorado Mesa’s Emily Garnier, who led the conference with 13 assists, was the defensive player of the year, and Taylor Proctor of UC-Colorado Springs was named goalkeeper of the year. Proctor made 45 saves and finished 10-2.
Tarah Patterson, also of UC-Colorado Springs, was the freshman of the year with six goals, and J.B. Belzer of Regis won coach of the year.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
