There’s no time to sit around and wait to get healthy for the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks.
The FLC women’s soccer team has four players dealing with concussions at the worst possible time of year – the start of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament.
“It will be a tough week. We need to be resilient again. We have four kids out with concussions, all starters,” FLC head coach Jimmy Hall said Monday in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We played (Colorado) Mines on Sunday without three of them most of the game, and then Caitlyn (Espinosa) got a concussion at the end of the game.”
Espinosa, a junior captain at goalkeeper, will miss the first round of the RMAC Tournament at No. 4 New Mexico Highlands because of the injury. She will be joined by freshman defender Savannah Boarman and sophomore midfielder Jordan Hix. Hall hopes to have redshirt freshman forward Ana Moran back in the lineup Wednesday after she missed a couple of games with a concussion.
After losing their previous head coach, Damian Clarke, to resignation a month before the season and playing all year with only one senior, Shea Haycock, the young Skyhawks (6-7-5, 5-5-4 RMAC) have proved their resiliency all year to earn a No. 5 seed in the RMAC Tournament.
“I think it just shows the tradition that’s been here. From coach Jayme Carozza to Damian (Clarke) to me, there’s been a huge tradition of trying to make something happen at the end of the year and the postseason,” Hall said. “It’s been passed on each generation.”
They also have a favorable matchup in the first round against N.M. Highlands (10-4-4, 7-3-4 RMAC), who FLC tied 1-1 on Oct. 12 in Durango and beat 1-0 on Sept. 21 in Las Vegas, N.M.
“Two things we have to make sure we bring to the game: Physical play, being ready to battle, and we also have to keep patience and keep the ball,” Hall said of the matchup. “We want those two points to be nice and strong.”
True freshman goalkeeper Kodie Johnson will step in and start in place of Espinosa. Johnson started one game this season and earned a shutout in a 0-0 draw against Midwestern State. She’s made three saves and hasn’t allowed a goal this year in 117 minutes of action. In comparison, Espinosa played 1,604 minutes in goal and has eight shutouts.
Johnson could see a slew of shots off the foot of Mallory Bostic, who led the RMAC in shots attempted this year with 71, good for an average of 3.94 per game. Crystal Schuder took the sixth most shots in the conference for the Cowgirls with 47. The Cowgirls’ Anyssa Dagnino ranks second in the RMAC in points with 21 on 10 goals and one assist. Those 10 goals has her tied with Metro State’s Karisa Price for the conference lead.
“It’s tough, but we will take Caitlyn with us to be a leader off the field and to give Kodie support, and I think we will see it flow,” Hall said. “She can make the saves she needs to make, but it comes down to the back line in front of her playing well.”
In comparison, the Skyhawks combined to score just 11 goals as a team all season. Still, two of those came against the Cowgirls, with Courtney Riley netting a goal Sept. 21 and Alicia Sanchez scoring off a corner kick by Brooke Milliet on Oct. 12.
“We will have a walkthrough Wednesday morning and make sure we look sharp,” Hall said. “I feel good about the end of the year for our team and how it’s come together. We’ve done some great things and keep growing and getting better.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
