After 109 minutes of grueling, physical, aggressive and at many times chippy soccer between No. 12 Regis and Fort Lewis College, both teams seemed content to stumble off the field with a tie. It didn’t end that way, though.
With 18 seconds left in the second session of extra time, and exhaustion clearly setting in, Regis’ Jacob Martinez tapped in an improbable goal to shock the Skyhawks and win it for the Rangers 2-1.
“Hey, we can never get too high and we can never get too low in this game,” Regis head coach Tony McCall said. “Honestly, with the time where it was, and how tough Fort Lewis plays us, I was content just packing up and leaving with the tie and a point. Obviously the guys had other ideas.”
The Rangers (6-0-0, 3-0-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) nearly packed up and left with a shutout in regulation, but a questionable call prompted a penalty kick that produced the equalizer as Fort Lewis forward Salifu Jatta sent a howitzer past Regis goalkeeper Chase Webert to tie the match in the 88th minute.
“I think it was a poor call,” McCall said. “I think it should have been a free kick from outside the box, but those are things good teams have to overcome.”
The Skyhawks (2-5-0, 1-2-0 RMAC) and Rangers put on a very well-played first half of soccer that ended with both teams taking six shots and each ending the half scoreless. It didn’t take long for Regis to take the lead in the second half as 6-foot-6 Rangers defender Tom Grimley moved up to deposit a cross from Sawyer Lincoln past FLC keeper Elliot Chadderton and give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
“Our defense is pretty deep, we have a lot of good guys back there which gives me a chance to get up there and help the offense too,” Grimley said. “It was a great setup. The ball just found me and I was able to unload it into the back of the net.”
The rest of the second half was marred by some dirty play on both sides as six yellow cards were issued in the final 42 minutes of play. At one point, McCall and Skyhawks coach David Oberholtzer were barking back and forth after Grimley was shoved from behind and sent into the knee of an FLC player. It looked bad as the Regis big man was helped off the pitch, but he got his revenge. Grimley was the man who flicked the ball to Martinez for the game-winning goal.
“It was a really hard fought game and I was proud of the way we competed out there for the most part,” Oberholtzer said. “Where we need to improve as a unit is keeping our composure. There were times in the half that got heated, but that happens in this game. What shouldn’t happen is us straying from the gameplan when that stuff happens. There are always positives and negatives, and our guys battled hard with a really good team for 109 minutes and 30 seconds so that’s an encouraging sign.”
The Skyhawks will try to get back to their winning ways at 3 p.m. Wednesday on the road at Adams State.
jfries@durangoherald.com
