Fort Lewis College soccer player Shayla Malecki must have been tired of watching halves go by without goals for her Skyhawks.
After a shutout loss to Lubbock Christian opened the season and a scoreless first half at Eastern New Mexico followed Monday, Malecki had enough. The junior forward broke the ice for the Skyhawks with two second-half goals to lead FLC in a 2-0 win, the team’s first of the season.
Skyhawks freshman goalkeeper Britt Blomso had three saves and recorded a shutout in her first full 90-minute match between the posts.
“Shayla got fired up at halftime and decided that she was going to go out there and score some goals,” Fort Lewis head coach Jimmy Hall said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “She’s a great competitor, and she leads by example with her play and her winning attitude. Everything we do goes through Shayla.”
The Skyhawks offense started slow and didn’t even attempt a shot for much of the opening half. Blomso and the strong, experienced FLC back line held the opponents at bay until Malecki and the Fort Lewis offense came out of hibernation.
Just 8 minutes into the second half, Malecki was set up nicely by Alicia Sanchez to score the first goal of FLC’s season. Six minutes later, she did it again after taking a pass from Jenna Brown and depositing it in the net to give the Skyhawks’ freshman keeper a cushion.
“We really liked the way Britt responded after getting scored on at Lubbock Christian,” Hall said. “She’s a good communicator, and she’s got a great attitude. With her in there and a lot of depth on the back line, the defense looks good.”
The Skyhawks will turn around and head back to Texas next weekend. FLC is scheduled to take on Angelo State at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Midwestern State at 11 a.m. Sunday.
jfries@durangoherald.com
