Head coach David Oberholtzer asked his attacking players to find a way to score more goals. They did Sunday.
The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team broke through with a 4-0 shutout win at home Sunday against Adams State University in the final game of the regular season for the Skyhawks.
Loic Jean-Baptiste scored two goals with one in each half in a game the Skyhawks completely dominated.
“I mentioned it to the guys after Friday, and we’ve been talking about it all year, that we’ve created a lot of great chances but hadn’t been creating separation for ourselves,” FLC head coach David Oberholtzer said in a news release, referencing the team’s 1-0 loss to Colorado School of Mines two days earlier. “We hadn’t been scoring enough goals. We wanted to come in and score goals (Sunday), and I was happy we were able to do that. We got an early goal 10-15 minutes into the game and really didn’t let our foot off the gas the entire first half.”
FLC (4-2-1, 3-2-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. Kanon Tebo scored in the 13th minute with an assist on a crossing pass from Andres Hernandez. Tebo was able to finish the header for his second goal of the season.
Jean-Baptiste scored his first with an assist from Brantley Bice in the 34th minute, as he made a nice run onto the ball Bice played ahead for him and finished a shot into the lower right corner of the goal.
Alejandro Arribas took a turnover from the Grizzlies defense and then put a shot past Adams State goalkeeper Matthew Burcin in the 42nd minute to give FLC a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Jean-Baptiste would score his third goal of the spring in the 84th minute when he was assisted by Gabriel Legendre.
“It was great to see Loic score a couple goals, absolutely,” Oberholtzer said. “And we think he is still capable of producing more. With playoffs around the corner, this was a breakout for him and hopefully we can continue to see more of that.”
FLC outshot Adams State 25-5 in the match and had a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Burcin made seven saves for the Grizzlies (0-6-0, 0-6-0 RMAC). Daniel Wilmore got the start in goal for FLC and made two saves.
The Skyhawks will now get some rest and training time this week before the eight-team RMAC tournament begins Tuesday. FLC is currently fifth in the RMAC standings.
“I think we have a very good team. I think with us, it comes down to whether we’re scoring that day or not,” Oberholtzer said. “I haven’t been too concerned with conceding goals because our back line and our goalkeepers have been doing great. It’s just a matter if we can find the back of the net, and we’ll get to find that out in about a week’s time.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
