Fort Lewis College women’s soccer hasn’t achieved its goal of beating Colorado Mesa on Wednesday, but there is reason to celebrate with six Skyhawks earning All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference selections.
The conference announced the All-RMAC selections on Tuesday as the Skyhawks finished fourth in the conference at 7-2-2 and are 11-4-3 overall before their RMAC tournament semifinal matchup against Colorado Mesa. FLC’s 11 wins are the most since 2015.
Junior forward Jenna Salazar, senior forward Anna Tucker, junior forward Ann Spence and senior defender Renee Junna each made Second Team All-RMAC for the Skyhawks.
Salazar has been FLC’s best offensive creator with eight goals and four assists for 20 points, but Tucker isn’t far behind with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Spence is a valuable connector and defender in the midfield; Junna is one of the most important defenders on the team with her strength and speed in the middle.
Senior forward Abigail Nkrumah and freshman goalkeeper Trinity Lujan made Honorable Mention All-RMAC. Lujan, who’s seventh in Division II in goals against average and third in Division II in save percentage at .905, won RMAC Freshman of the Year. She’s the first Skyhawks women’s soccer player to win that award since 2007.
“Trinity is a standout player,” FLC head coach Damian Clarke said. “I felt pretty certain she’d have a very good chance of being the freshman of the year. I'm super happy. Somehow, she didn't get one defensive player of the week in the RMAC after 10 shutouts in a row. But, it’s a pretty fitting award at the end.”
The No.4-seeded Skyhawks will need Lujan’s prowess against Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction on Wednesday at 4 p.m. At 13-2-2 overall, the Mavericks are the top seed in the RMAC tournament after finishing 9-0-2 in conference play. Colorado Mesa averaged 1.824 goals per game (third-best in the conference), but didn’t allow a single goal in conference play and have only allowed .24 goals per game for the season.
Colorado Mesa’s offense is led by senior forward Kylie Wells (No. 11), who’s scored nine goals and three assists for a team-leading 21 points. The Mavericks’ second leading scorer is freshman Ellie Duncan (No. 12) who has four goals and two assists. She’s the younger sister of FLC redshirt freshman Mia Duncan.
“She's pretty fast and technically a good player as well,” Clarke said about Wells. “Her movement off the ball is really good. She's just a clever attacking player. She can hurt you in a number of ways as a kid that is fast enough to turn the corner and get around you on the outside. Her movement is also good enough to find ways to cut in and hit things from the top of the box.”
On offense, Clarke has been focusing in practice on his team changing the point of attack from right to left. He knows that whatever team possesses the ball better will likely win.
If this year’s postseason matchup against Colorado Mesa is anything like last season’s, FLC might need Lujan in penalty kicks. The Skyhawks advanced to the RMAC semifinals last season over the Mavericks after 15 penalty kicks. FLC has practiced penalty kicks a lot of the past two weeks, so Clarke is confident his team could get a win that away again.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
