The Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team has been unbeaten for over a month and the Skyhawks hope to continue that unbeaten run in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals against Regis on Saturday.
It will be FLC’s first home quarterfinal RMAC tournament game since the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season that was played in the spring of 2021.
FLC begins its postseason at 10-4-3 overall and it finished the regular season 7-2-2 in the RMAC. FLC’s 10 wins are the most since it won 12 games in 2015, which was also the last year the program made the NCAA tournament.
Regis isn’t an unfamiliar opponent for the Skyhawks; FLC won 1-0 at Regis on Oct. 26.
“It’s tough matchup,” FLC head coach Damian Clarke said. “Regis is good; they’re ahead of us in the region when it comes to trying to get into the national tournament, so it's a legit opponent ... We can go into this knowing that obviously we can win, but obviously being respectful of the opponent and knowing that this is going to be a dog fight. This is win or go home for us inside this tournament.”
The Rangers finished the regular season 10-4-4 overall and 6-3-3 in the RMAC. Regis has had a mediocre finish to the season with a 2-3-3 record in its last eight games, including the loss to FLC.
In that game, senior forward Abigail Nkrumah scored the game-winner in the 65th minute off an assist from fellow senior forward Anna Tucker. The statistics showed an even game, with both teams finishing with 14 shots and seven saves. FLC did have a 6-1 edge in corner kicks.
Regis is fourth in the RMAC with an average of 1.778 goals per game and FLC is fifth with an average of 1.647. The Rangers’ offense is led by No. 13, Fernanda Rodriguez, with eight goals and seven assists for 23 points. No. 12, Natalie Bunch, leads the team with 10 goals and has an assist for 21 points.
FLC has the advantage on defense with an average of 0.35 goals allowed per game (second in the RMAC), compared to Regis’ 0.94 goals allowed per game (sixth in the RMAC).
“They're similar to us in that there a good possession-based team,” Clarke said. “Whoever gets the lion's share of possession and does what they want should probably have a better chance of winning the game.”
The winner will face the top seed in the RMAC in Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Last season, the Skyhawks beat the Mavericks in penalty kicks in the RMAC tournament quarterfinals. Colorado Mesa finished the regular season 13-2-2 overall and 9-0-2 in the RMAC. FLC never had the chance to play a full game against Colorado Mesa as the teams’ matchup in Durango on Oct. 3 was canceled due to weather.
Clarke knows that Colorado Mesa is a quality team, but he’s also confident that his team can beat anyone. Beating Colorado Mesa would go a long way for FLC’s hopes of getting to its first NCAA tournament since 2015.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
