It was a long night for both Fort Lewis soccer programs, as the men were toppled 4-1 by Dixie State and the women fell to No. 5 Colorado School of Mines 3-1 in what was each team’s first loss in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
The Skyhawks (4-3-0, 3-1 RMAC) got off to a rough start and went down 1-0 in the seventh minute after Orediggers forward Peyton Sanders finished in the top right corner of the net off of a cross from Jennifer Kendall.
However, they were able to respond just five minutes later off of yet another set-piece goal. Midfielder Emma Patron whipped in a ball from the left corner and it eventually found the foot of Britney Johnson, who tapped it in off of a rebound and tied the match at 1.
Mines (8-1-1, 5-0-0 RMAC) took the lead in the 35th minute when Nicole LaTourette had an individual run of brilliance as she beat two defenders and substitute goalkeeper Kaylee Mickens to give the Orediggers a 2-1 lead. That’s how it would remaim for the remainder of the match.
Midway through the second half in the 62nd minute, Mines added a third goal after a screaming free kick by Dominique Rivera came off the cross bar and Emily Townsend knocked in the rebound.
Head coach Damian Clarke thought his team played very well despite the scoreline.
“The right way to frame this against a team who you’re playing that is that good, is we cut the score in half and scored a goal on a team that has only given up three all season,” Clarke said.
“Our message to the girls was that we grew tremendously,” Clarke continued. “We kept the ball a whole lot better than we’ve kept the ball the entire season, and at times, yeah, they did show why they were nationally ranked, but realistically, until they scored the third goal, I felt like we were in the match. Even with the result, I think we got a whole lot better today against one of the better teams in the country.”
Goalkeeper Brit Blomso had to leave the match with a sprained ankle and will be a game-time decision for Sunday.
The Skyhawks will take on Colorado Christian at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Head coach David Oberholtzer thought his side was a little too overconfident coming in to a road match against Dixie State. He was correct, as the Trailblazers used two late goals to seal a 4-1 victory over Fort Lewis.
In the first half, Moises Medina scored his fourth goal of the season after a cross came in from Gustavo Ortega and Medina had a diving header that beat Skyhawks goalkeeper Victor Salcido. The 1-0 scoreline was the first deficit the Skyhawks (5-1-2, 3-1-1 RMAC) took into the locker room since the match against Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 8.
It would not get much better for FLC in the second half as Traedon Chamberlain scored in the 49th minute off of a free kick that came through the box and Chamberlain finished in the top right corner of the net, which made it 2-0.
Ty Lang pulled one back just 51 seconds later for his fourth goal of the season after he tapped in a rebound.
But the Skyhawk defense was not able to hold on late as Idris Alabi scored twice in the final 11 minutes of the match to seal the 4-1 win for the Trailblazers. Dixie State improved to 3-5-1 and 1-3-1 in conference play.
Oberholtzer said that the team had an off night but they hope to rebound soon.
“I think really it comes down to us being a little overconfident,” Oberholtzer said. “We had a lot of results going our way and getting a little acknowledgment in the national polls. We were toeing that fine line a little bit between being confident and being overconfident. We came out a little flat and we really put ourselves in a hole and had a hard time getting out of it all night. I think they’ll be able to learn from this and get ready for Sunday.”
The Skyhawks will travel to Salt Lake City on Sunday where they will play at noon against Westminster.
Volleyball
VolleyballThe Fort Lewis College volleyball team got back in the win column after a five-set victory over New Mexico Highlands Friday night at Whalen Gymnasium with scores of 26-24, 26-24, 25-21, 25-18 and 16-14 in the final set.
Fort Lewis were led by senior outside hitter Haley Christiansen with 18 kills and junior middle blocker Bailey Longacre was not far behind with 16. Tiffany Matchett recorded 27 for New Mexico Highlands.
Kendra Swackenberg had 51 assists and Megan Graefe had 30 digs for Fort Lewis.
The Skyhawks (2-9, 2-5 RMAC) got off to a quick two-set lead before the Cowgirls (5-11, 3-5 RMAC) stormed back, winning two sets of their own to force a final fifth set. In the final set, the Skyhawks were down 13-10 before winning the next three points to tie it at 13. Highlands had match point but Christiansen had a key kill to keep the match alive.
The Skyhawks won the final points by way of attack errors to win 16-14.
FLC will wrap up the weekend when they host Colorado State Pueblo at 5 p.m. Saturday at Whalen Gymnasium.
bploen@durangoherald.com
