The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs women’s soccer team looked every bit like the top-ranked team in all of NCAA Division II on Friday night.
Fort Lewis College paid a visit to the Mountain Lions and fell 5-0. The Skyhawks (3-4-2, 2-2-2 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) fell behind only 83 seconds into the match and 3-0 by halftime, as UCCS (11-0, 7-0 RMAC) showed its strength.
Savannah Mills scored two goals, including the first in the second minute of the match with an assist by Alessa Muir, who added a goal in the 26th minute with an assist from Shanade Hopcroft.
Kaitlin Hinkle added a score shortly before halftime with an assist from Kendall Stevenson.
FLC played a sharp second half until the final 10 minutes. Mills broke through for her second goal with an assist from Hopcroft in the 82nd minute. In stoppage time, Tanner Sanders added the fifth goal for UCCS, which outshot FLC 19-10, including 10-4 in shots on goal.
The Skyhawks did not earn a corner kick in the match and gave up six. Alexis Walker made four saves to keep a clean sheet for UCCS. Britt Blomso made one save in the first half for FLC, while Katie Dunbabin played the second half and made four saves.
FLC will try to bounce back at 1 p.m. Sunday in a key conference match at Metro State University-Denver (4-6-2, 3-2-2 RMAC). FLC is sixth in the conference standings, and the Roadrunners sit in fifth.
The FLC men also were shut out Friday night at UCCS in a 2-0 loss, as the Mountain Lions scored once in each half.
Alex Vonholle scored in the seventh minute for UCCS (3-6-1, 2-5-0 RMAC) with an assist from Adam Baldwin. In the 60th minute, Liam McGuire found the back of the net, this time with an assist from Vonholle.
The teams were nearly even in shots, as UCCS had a narrow 14-13 advantage. Accuracy was key Friday, as FLC (6-2-3, 4-2-1 RMAC) had only two shots on goal to seven for the Mountain Lions. The FLC men also did not have a corner kick in the match.
Peter Byrne made five saves in goal for FLC, and Jake Zink saved both FLC shots on goal for UCCS.
It was a disappointing loss for a Skyhawks team that was without leading goal scorer Loic Jean-Baptiste, who was out after he received a red card in last Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Dixie State.
FLC will try to end the losing skid at 3 p.m. Sunday at Regis (6-4-1, 5-2-0 RMAC).
The Skyhawks suffered a second consecutive conference defeat in a 3-0 loss Friday night at CSU-Pueblo.
FLC (5-11, 1-6 RMAC) fell 25-18, 25-16 and 27-25 on Friday night in Pueblo against the ThunderWolves (7-9, 2-6 RMAC).
FLC had a hitting percentage of just .110 compared to .240 for CSU-Pueblo. Alexa Treguboff led FLC with eight kills and 12 digs, while Bailey Longacre had six kills. No other player on FLC had more than two kills. Payton Harmann led FLC with 24 assists.
Brooke Schilling and Diamond’Nique Young totaled 11 kills each for CSU-Pueblo, which received six blocks from Jazzy Espinoza, 22 assists from Grace Hern and 13 digs from Sarah Vang.
FLC will be back at it at 6 p.m. Saturday at New Mexico Highlands (1-15, 0-8 RMAC).
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
