Damian Clarke wanted to see his team score on more corner kick and free kick opportunities. The Skyhawks got a goal that way Thursday.
The Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team secured a 1-0 win at Adams State University for the its second consecutive 1-0 victory following a road win Saturday at Colorado State University-Pueblo.
FLC (4-1-2, 3-1-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) improved to 3-0-1 on the road this season thanks to a goal in the 70th minute from Aubrey Swindle. Her third goal of the spring season came on a header from a corner kick played in by Corinne Sanderson.
“We’ve been really stressing that set pieces need to start falling for us to give us a bit of relief when we work so hard to earn them, especially corner kicks,” Clarke said. “The ball was put into the box with about 18 bodies in there. Aubrey Swindle is a pretty unique athlete and capable of being the one to win the ball, and she put in a pretty clear header into the top left corner.”
FLC goalkeeper Kate Dunbabin did not have to make a save in the match. Adams State (1-4, 0-3 RMAC) tallied only three shots and didn’t put one on goal.
The Skyhawks had 10 shots in the match with four on target against Adams State goalkeeper Ashley Beers. FLC also had 12 corner kicks to only one from Adams State in a match it dominated.
That left Clarke wanting a few more goals in the match. But he said fatigue could be to blame for the somewhat flat performance in the final week of what has been a fast and furious season which was postponed in the fall and moved and shortened for the spring.
“We would have liked it to be a little bit more decisive and earlier, but at the same time, we put in a pretty good performance and got better at some things we’ve worked on. We just lacked a bit of energy today,” Clarke said. “The girls have put out a lot of energy and dealt with having to change and adapt, and things are changing all the time and they’re having to adjust with it. The stress level has been pretty high.
“Adams did really well in changing what we saw from them last time when they ran a 4-3-3 formation and were pretty wide. They changed from what we set up to play against. This game, they got compact into a 4-2-2 and made it difficult for us to play down the middle of the field. It took us a bit to adjust to that.”
FLC has two more matches to play in the regular season before the RMAC tournament, which will be held April 23-25. FLC is currently fourth in the RMAC standings and in position to host a first-round game. First is a home match at noon Sunday against Colorado Christian (2-6, 0-4 RMAC) before the regular-season home finale at 3 p.m. April 16 against Colorado Mesa (4-3-1, 2-2 RMAC).
“We’ve seen Colorado Christian on film, and I think they are better than their record. We can’t expect this to be an easy one,” Clarke said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
