A quick first surge by the Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse team almost gave the Skyhawks enough momentum to upset the No. 16 Regis Rangers on Friday afternoon at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.
The Skyhawks exchanged goals with the Rangers for most of the game, but Regis and its high-scoring offense was too strong in the end in a 16-14 victory.
Both Ellie Carpenter and Sara McMahon scored three goals for the Skyhawks, and Marissa DiCecco, Rebecca Miller and Ryann Pierce scored two goals each.
“We had been practicing all week moving the ball quicker and trying to see the feeds as fast as we can, and that was working especially on the fastbreak,” Carpenter said. “They were slow to get back on defense, so we were trying to take advantage of that.”
Regis held a 15-14 lead with two minutes left in regulation. At that point, the Rangers began to milk the clock and played keep away from FLC. The offensive strategy worked, and Regis actually scored as time expired on a sleeping FLC defense to push it to 16-14.
“Like the other good teams in the RMAC when they have the lead, they’ll stall,” said Carpenter. “It’s pretty tough to break up a stall because you’re tired.”
After Regis’ Erin Todd scored the game’s opening goal two minutes in, Pierce scored two consecutive goals a minute later to give a 2-1 lead to FLC. DiCecco got an assist on one of those goals.
Carpenter then scored the first of her three goals on an unassisted shot, and DiCecco scored a goal of her own on a pass from Jam Vertner to put FLC up 4-1 just four minutes into the game.
Vertner finished with one goal and three assists.
Fort Lewis (6-5, 2-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) did its best to hold the Ranger offense. Despite the loss, FLC held Regis only one goal over its season average of 15.3 goals per game, which was impressive since the Rangers put up 23 goals against Rockhurst on April 15.
“Our defense was on this game. We were really practicing staying on their cutters, but they got some lucky goals on us,” Carpenter said.
At the end of the first half, Regis held an 11-9 lead over FLC. The second half saw the Skyhawks defense get more aggressive, and the offense outshot Regis 12-9.
“Regis is a team that will be on their heels in transition,” FLC head coach Julia Decker said. “We had a lot of fastbreak goals because of that.”
Todd’s opening goal for Regis Regis (12-2, 4-1 RMAC) was the first of four goals for the senior midfielder. Hilary Duda added three goals and three assists for the Rangers. Regis’ Jade Bonner, who was recently named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, was held to only one ground ball.
Regis never had more than a two-goal lead on FLC.
The last time these two teams played was March 19 in Denver. Regis won 13-8.
“I always expect a dogfight,” Regis head coach Sarah Kellner said. “We weren’t happy with the way we went down in the beginning, but that was more on us. They played a lot faster (Friday). They went at us and kept us on our heels. Their transition attack was really nice. We made some adjustments for some of their biggest shooters.”
The lacrosse season is quickly coming to a close. Regis, Colorado Mesa and No. 6 Lindenwood have earned their trip to the RMAC Tournament next weekend. The top four teams in the RMAC qualify for the tournament, which will make Sunday’s FLC match with CSU-Pueblo a must-win with both teams vying for the final tournament spot.
CSU-Pueblo (8-6, 3-2) has a one-game lead on Fort Lewis. The Skyhawks already beat the ThunderWolves 14-8 the first game of the season.
Should CSU-Pueblo win, the ThunderWolves are in the RMAC Tournament. If FLC wins, the Skyhawks will hold a tie-breaker with the ThunderWolves, which would give them the final spot in the tournament.
The Skyhawks and ThunderWolves play at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ray Dennison Memorial Field. The Skyhawks will then wrap up their season when they host Adams State at 3 p.m. Friday.
“We knew this weekend is full of big games for us if we want to be in the RMAC,” Decker said. “We still believe we can win the tournament once we make it. Now we’re just looking forward to Sunday and taking care of that game and finishing the season strong.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
