Three red cards and one goal decided the Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team’s match at No. 12 St. Edward’s on Sunday.
The Skyhawks lost 1-0 in Austin, Texas, after a tough 3-1 loss at No. 20 Midwestern State on Friday.
Jack Blanton scored in the 79th minute of a corner for the Hilltoppers.
“The goal we conceded was poor defending on a corner kick. We switched off, and they managed to win the second ball,” FLC head coach Oige Kennedy said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “The guy struck a nice ball. We had a man advantage at that point and should have won the corner.”
St. Edward’s was playing with nine men at the time after Kyle Pujats saw red in the 76th minute after receiving a yellow card in the 73rd minute.
The previous two red cards resulted from a 71st-minute confrontation between St. Edward’s Ryan Dendinger and FLC senior keeper Ryan Schaul.
“I think honestly a ball came loose, their player went in for it, rightfully so, you want your strikers to get on it,” Kennedy said. “He caught Ryan, and Ryan reacted. Kind of a pushing match. The ref felt both players needed to leave. It was not a big violent brawl.”
Schaul had made three saves in the match up to that point.
He was replaced by freshman keeper Elliot Chadderton, who had been pushing Schaul for the starting spot in the preseason, Kennedy said.
“It’s part of the game, unfortunately,” Kennedy said of the ejection. “Disappointing from our point of view. We felt like we had more space to keep the ball 10 against 10. Our guys kept their cool heads and didn’t react to the physical nature of the game. We needed to take advantage of possession.”
The Skyhawks put five shots on goal, two by freshman midfielder Nicolas Perez.
“Some of our younger guys who are starting to get minutes are developing more,” Kennedy said. “I’m hoping to see more progress over the next couple weeks. We’re going to be a different team by the time (Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) play starts.”
Before conference play, though, the Skyhawks still have some South Central Region business to attend to.
West Texas A&M and St. Mary’s will visit Dirks Field on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Chadderton will start the St. Mary’s game Friday because Schaul has to serve a one-game suspension because of the red card.
He’ll be one of FLC’s flock of youngsters attempting to gel together after a challenging start to the season.
“This is a very tough road trip for Colorado schools to take. Fort Lewis has nearly always been a program that never shied away from competition. We are not far away from being able to play against these guys,” Kennedy said. “It’ll nice to be on Dirks Field this weekend. If we prepare the right way this week we’ll be on the right track.”
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