The final weekend of the season at Dirks Field couldn’t have gone much worse for the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks’ men’s soccer team.
After losing 2-1 on Friday to Metropolitan State University of Denver, the Skyhawks (11-5-2, 6-3-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) suffered a heartbreaking loss on senior day Sunday, 1-0 to University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
Blake Barnes’ penalty kick goal in the 70th minute was the only tally of the game.
Skyhawks senior Ryan Schaul got the start in the net, and put up a solid final performance at Dirks Field. Schaul made seven saves and kept his team in the match with some beautiful work between the pipes in the second half.
Zac Lawrence, Austin Derksen and Yannis Becker also played their last game at Dirks Field on Sunday.
“Ryan did really well in there today and Zac has had a great senior season,” said Skyhawks head coach Oige Kennedy. “Austin and Yannis contributed well too, it’s just a shame that we couldn’t get it done (Sunday).”
Unlike Friday’s game in which Kennedy thought his boys came out flat, the energy was there on Sunday. Both teams came out aggressive and played a tightly contested, scoreless first half.
The Mountains Lions (13-4-0, 8-2-0 RMAC) got on the board after Fort Lewis defender Malik Badawi was called for a foul in the box and Barnes beat Schaul to the keeper’s right to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Fort Lewis turned up the pressure as time ticked away. With 15 minutes left in the game, Lawrence fired a shot that UC-Colorado Springs’ goalkeeper David Meyer couldn’t control. Skyhawks forward Tamino Kroeger was on the doorstep and his rebound attempt looked like it crossed the line, but the referee was in no position to make the call and the play went on.
With 15 seconds remaining in the match, Mountain Lions defender Antonio Roble ran over Lawrence in the box. The referee whistled, signaled for a penalty kick and the Skyhawks had one last chance at the equalizer.
Kroeger’s attempt sailed just wide left and time expired. It was a devastating loss for the home team, as the regional tournament seems to be out of reach with the back-to-back losses.
“Every loss is tough no matter how it happens,” said Becker. “I feel lucky to have come here and had the chance to play in this beautiful setting. There’s not a better pitch in America than Dirks Field and I appreciate everything Fort Lewis has done for me. The community and the fans’ support was always really nice to have.”
The Skyhawks play at Metropolitan State University of Denver to open the RMAC Tournament at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Colorado Springs. The winner will face No. 1 seed and RMAC regular season conference champion, Colorado Mines.
jfries@durangoherald.com
