A 100th career win and a regular season conference championship were at stake when rivals clashed on Dirks Field on Friday. Neither was decided.
The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with No. 8 Colorado Mines in Durango. A win would’ve given FLC Skyhawks head coach Oige Kennedy is 100th career win, and a win for the Orediggers would’ve clinched the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s No. 1 position for the conference tournament.
Certainly more important to Kennedy was the result and keeping hope alive for a chance at the regular season conference championship.
“In my mind, these are the two best soccer teams in the conference. It was a great game,” Kennedy said. “The two teams worked extremely hard. Credit to Mines. They’re a brilliant team with a great coach.”
The match was much bigger than Kennedy’s career wins mark. The Skyhawks (9-3-1, 5-1-1 RMAC), who received votes in the most recent NCAA Division II poll, are neck-and-neck with the Orediggers (10-0-2, 8-0-1 RMAC) in the conference standings, but the two sides will get another chance to see each other seven days later at 7:30 p.m. in Golden.
“If we keeping winning, we’ll see them again in the tournament, too,” Kennedy said.
The two teams played an even and scoreless first half. Fort Lewis freshman Laurin Weiland was the first to strike with an unassisted goal in the 63rd minute. He dribbled the ball up the field a few times and slid as he struck a shot with his right foot into the bottom left corner below Colorado Mines goalkeeper Collin Hall.
“Laurin is a great player and scored a great goal again,” FLC junior midfielder Yannis Becker said of his fellow German’s third goal of the season. “Little dribble and he finishes it. I think that’s the German quality.”
The Skyhawks looked to possess the ball and had a few chances to add to their lead, but Hall gobbled up the chances and was first to the ball on several passes played into the box.
In the 80th minute, Colorado Mines was pressuring in the Skyhawks’ third, and a long throw-in from Nikolaus Grotz found the head of Ryan Leach in front of goal, and Leach flicked it into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
“I thought Fort was playing great, and this is one of the best matches I think they’ve played all season,” Colorado Mines 18th-year head coach Frank Kohlenstein said. “For us to battle back against them is big time. That’s how you become a good program, you keep battling no matter what the odds are.
“Our guys are little, especially in the box against the big guys Fort Lewis has, but they guys have big hearts.”
The Skyhawks had won every ball in the air up until Leach’s goal, and Kennedy couldn’t complain about his team’s play in front of goal.
“It’s frustrating, but Coleman Kane and Sean Cleary were immensely good on headers (Friday), and they have been all season,” Kennedy said.
FLC also lost a big piece to its back line when Malik Badawi went down with an ankle injury. He tried to test the ankle but was unable to return to the match. Alex Kramer, a junior, came on and filled in brilliantly.
Both teams had chances in the two 10-minute overtime periods, but several shots floated over the crossbar or just wide of goal, including another close attempt by Weiland and a free kick by Becker with 1 minute to play that nearly bent inside the left post but stayed wide.
“I came close for us to score to win, but I can’t celebrate my other goal much because we played 1-1,” Weiland said. “It’s sad but our best game of the season I think.”
Hall made two saves on point-blank chances by Fort Lewis’ Austin Derksen and Raul Pescador. Kohlenstein said he was a last-minute signee his freshman season and has worked his way up to starter, impressing the entire conference along the way.
Hall made eight saves in the match, only to be one-upped by FLC freshman goalkeeper Elliot Chadderton’s nine saves.
Both teams poured everything they had into the match, and respect was shown amongst rivals after the game.
“We knew before the game it was going to be big, so we tried to put everything in,” Becker said. “1-1 is not a bad result, but obviously at home we are meant to win, but still a good game. It was a great college game.”
Kennedy will get another chance at his 100th career win Sunday against Colorado Christian (1-11-1, 1-7-1 RMAC). And the Skyhawks will hope Colorado Mines will stumble at Adams State on Sunday before the two teams meet once more.
“They gotta slip one time,” Becker said. “They gotta lose points one game, and we’re gonna be up for it. If we keep winning our games, maybe we get rewarded for it at the end of the season.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
