The Fort Lewis men’s soccer team’s comeback attempt fell short Thursday night, as University of Colorado Colorado Springs beat the Skyhawks 3-2.
UCS improved to 5-4-4 overall and 1-2-2 in RMAC play with the win. Fort Lewis fell to 7-3-2 overall and 3-1-1 in the RMAC. It was the Skyhawks’ first loss since Sept. 14.
The Mountain Lions outshot Fort Lewis 28-12, including 11 shots on goal compared to the Skyhawks’ six shots on goal.
“I thought it was a good college soccer game,” Skyhawks coach David Oberholtzer said. “UCCS has a good team. I thought we both played well for spells. It’s just fine margins, and we made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized. We weren’t able to do the same.”
The first 25 minutes were back and forth. There were constant battles in the midfield for the ball. UCCS had the shot advantage early on, but most of those shots came from outside the box.
Fort Lewis had numerous turnovers in the midfield in the first half, and UCCS finally took advantage with a counterattack. Skyhawks goalkeeper Lucas Martin made a good save, but UCCS’s Bogdan Vedernikov recovered the ball from about six yards out and put it in the lower right corner for the opening goal in the 31st minute.
The Skyhawks’ sloppy play continued, and UCCS got a throw-in into the six-yard box. The Mountain Lions’ Kolby Raineri got a foot on the ball and put it in the back of the net in the 41st minute.
“They pressed well as a group,” Oberholtzer said of UCCS’s effort in the first half. “Beyond that, we were sloppy. We should have been more comfortable to play out. There was a lot of space for us to be able to play out. We did it a number of times but then we were sloppy in other moments and not as confident with the type of pressure they were putting on us.”
In the second half, the Skyhawks looked sharper and had more chances. They possessed the ball better and it paid off.
Aymaro Vargas played a great through ball from the top of the 18-yard box to a cutting Tomas Duentes. He stopped and settled before hitting a shot that got deflected and found the left side of the net to make it 2-1 in the 52nd minute.
UCCS continued to attack, barely missing the net with a header in the 64th minute and hitting the post in the 66th minute.
After 65 minutes of great flow and rhythm, the referee stopped play on numerous occasions in a short period of time to issue yellow cards on plays such as a questionable tackle and high-kick.
Jeers from the bench and crowd ensued, as five yellow cards were issued between the 67th and 70th minutes.
“I didn’t think the game warranted that many cards at all,” Oberholtzer said. “I thought the game was played fine from both teams. The referee started to get a little card-happy, and it was breaking up the rhythm of the game. I didn’t think that needed to happen.”
After the Mountain Lions’ Nic Grotle found the back of the net to make it 3-1, a scramble for the ball inside the 18-yard box led to the Skyhawks’ Kaden Schufft putting the ball in the back of the net in the 86th minute to make it 3-2.
Fort Lewis had a few close calls in the closing minutes, but it was not enough in the end.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
