The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team ended its season with a 2-1 win over Colorado State University-Pueblo on Saturday afternoon in Pueblo.
The Skyhawks (9-6-2, 7-6-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) attacked in the first half, as senior midfielder Raul Pescador scored twice with his first goal in the 40th minute and his second just on the stroke of halftime, with 19 seconds remaining. The two-goal performance from Pescador gave FLC a 2-0 lead heading into the break.
In the second half, the ThunderWolves (5-11-2, 2-10-2 RMAC) got one back in the 67th minute when a shot from senior midfielder Santiago Tinta deflected off of a Skyhawk defender and went in to make it 2-1 Skyhawks. Fort Lewis was never really pressed for the equalizer, and the match finished at 2-1. Head coach David Oberholtzer thought it was a good way to end the season.
“Always nice to end on a win,” Oberholzter said. “Obviously, it was mentally difficult going into the weekend, and it would have been very easy for them to not show up, but to come away with two wins was something to be happy about for sure.”
For the first time in program history, the Skyhawks will not qualify for the RMAC Tournament as they will miss out on the sixth spot by two points. Metropolitan State University-Denver grabbed the final spot on Thursday when they thumped Colorado Christian 7-0. Despite a tough pill to swallow, Oberholtzer said next year’s returning group will be determined to look at what happened this season and learn from it.
“We just need to take advantage and not let chances slip by us,” Oberholtzer said. “It’s just about being ruthless every moment. We’re obviously losing some key seniors and some guys that will be missed within the program, but we’ll have a really strong core group returning and I’m sure this will continue to make them hungry and we’ll be ready to go.”
The Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team sent off its seniors with a 2-1 win over New Mexico Highlands Saturday afternoon at Dirks Field in Durango.
The Skyhawks (6-9-2, 5-7-1 RMAC) honored two seniors before the match, and they both played well. Senior captain Renee Terrell, who had previously missed the last five matches because of injury, opened the scoring in the ninth minute of the game after junior midfielder Emma Patron delivered in a corner kick and found the head of redshirt sophomore midfielder Courtney Wamboldt, who headed the ball over to Terrell, and she headed it into the net to give FLC a 1-0 lead.
Skyhawks’ head coach Damian Clarke thought the effort from the seniors was brilliant.
“For Renee to go out the way she did, it was fantastic,” Clarke said. “Renee could barely walk because she was so injured. She more or less limped herself into that box on the corner kick and put her head on the ball and scored on her final day of her soccer career. It was a tremendous performance from her. And Kaylee Mickens was brilliant as well, as she made seven saves on 19 shots faced. I was just very pleased with their effort.”
In the 32nd minute, the Skyhawks responded again, this time with Patron, as she scored her second goal of the season off of a penalty kick, and the Skyhawks took a 2-0 lead into the break.
The Cowgirls (2-13-1, 2-10-1 RMAC) did not quit in the second half. In the 84th minute, senior midfielder Anna Medina ripped a shot from 25 yards out that hit off the bottom left post and in to make it 2-1. Highlands had another shot just two minutes later that hit the crossbar and bounced out.
The game finished 2-1, and the Skyhawks were able to celebrate in front of their fans one last time this season. The women’s team failed to qualify for the RMAC Tournament for the first time under Damian Clarke and missed out for the first time since the 2001 season.
Clarke said his team learned a lot this season despite the results not always going their way.
“I told the girls that I thought we learned a lot,” Clarke said. “We showed conviction to win and these are things we want to carry forward. There was a lot of growth in our heartaches this year, but again, there’s something to learn from. There’s some groundwork laid and that’s what we can look forward to in the next few years.”
bploen@durangoherald.com
