For over half of Fort Lewis College men’s soccer’s opening game at home on Thursday night, the Skyhawks looked like they were headed toward a disappointing loss. Then, FLC’s young talent stepped up and scored two goals in the last 30 minutes to stun Lubbock Christian and take a 2-1 victory.
FLC dominated the second half and outshot Lubbock Christian 13-0. The Skyhawks constantly possessed the ball and pressured the Chaps’ defense. With the game tied 1-1 with less than a minute left, freshman Lorenz Guintini made all the possession and pressure worth it as he rose above the defense and headed the ball into the back of the net for the game-winner.
“There was a lot of pride, a lot of resilience from the group to continue to push, especially after being down a goal and to come back and find a way to win,” FLC head coach David Oberholtzer said. “The entire second half, we were really dominant. We were maybe a little unlucky not to get a couple more earlier, but we got one when it counted and the guys just kept pushing to the end.”
FLC moved to 1-0 overall with the win. Freshmen Alessio Andreottola and Guintini each had a goal for the Skyhawks; sophomore Jacob Ramos and freshman Francisco Pinto had the assists. Junior goalkeeper Lucas Martin had a save.
Lubbock Christian fell to 0-1 overall after the loss. Pedro Lucas had the lone goal for the Chaps. Goalkeeper Connor Pettigrew had two saves.
The teams faced windy conditions in Durango on Dirks Field on Thursday afternoon, making long balls more difficult to judge.
Lubbock Christian had its first great chance 23 minutes into the first half. Off a free kick, Martin made a diving attempt at the ball and pushed it to the outer part of the 18-yard box. Lubbock Christian’s Kade McKinzie gathered the ball and Skyhawk freshman Yohann Fila came in from behind to take the ball away. McKinzie went to the ground and a penalty was called.
“I thought it could have been a little soft,” Oberholtzer said about the penalty call. “But, that's fine as long as we would have got the one (goal) late in the game for ourselves, that could have gone either way, but that's ok. Regardless, those things are going to happen where calls go against you or whatever it is. We just have to keep responding and control the things that are in our hands.”
Lucas finished the penalty kick in the lower right corner for a 1-0 lead with 22:19 left in the half.
FLC had a few nice combinations in the midfield during the first half, but struggled to generate good looks in the attacking third. The Skyhawks controlled possession and didn’t allow Lubbock Christian to challenge Martin with many good looks. The Chaps led 1-0 at half.
The Skyhawks continued to put the pressure on the Chaps in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Lubbock Christian barely had possession and struggled to play long balls with the wind at its back.
In the second half, FLC went from playing three defenders in the back to four. This allowed the Skyhawks to play wider and for senior defender Casey Stracher to be more comfortable making runs up the sideline to help FLC play from the outside in.
The Skyhawks finally capitalized on their pressure about 17 minutes into the second half. On a free kick, Andreottola played a short pass to Ramos, who played it right back to Andreottola. The French freshman made a beautiful move down the right side, cut in and placed a lovely shot into the top left corner for the equalizer.
“He’s super dangerous,” Oberholtzer said about Andreottola. “He can go down the line, he can come inside and he’s got a fantastic left foot. He’s got a great work rate; he played every minute of that game and kept going. He’s a really exciting piece to the group.”
FLC’s goal seemed to open things up on offense. Andreottola had a beautiful free kick from about 20 yards that required a phenomenal save by Pettigrew. On the ensuing corner, FLC almost had the lead with a header that went just over the crossbar. With 20 minutes left, redshirt freshman William Bretvik nearly gave FLC the lead from the top of the 18-yard box; his shot went just wide of the lower left corner.
Lubbock Christian was on the defense for the rest of the second half. FLC’s combinations only got crisper on offense as the chemistry grew by the minute.
Then, with less than a minute left, Pinto played a ball from right side about 40 yards away from the goal. Guintini went right over the goalie and Lubbock Christian defenders for the winning header.
FLC plays at St. Edward’s University at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
