The Fort Lewis College women’s soccer team has found its stride at the right time of the season, as the Skyhawks topped CSU-Pueblo 2-0 on Friday night in Pueblo for a third consecutive win.
Fort Lewis (6-6-3, 5-4-3 RMAC) opened the scoring in the 41st minute when Valerie Maestas got on the end of a scramble in the box and put it home to make it 1-0. In the 80th minute, Britney Johnson got on the end of a cross from senior Emma Patron for the second goal of the night.
The win catapulted Fort Lewis into seventh-place in the RMAC standings with 18 points. A win over winless New Mexico Highlands (0-14, 0-12 RMAC) on Sunday would book a berth into the RMAC Tournament.
“You know the process that you’re asking the kids to go through is starting to play dividends,” said FLC head coach Damian Clarke. “We’re really happy with the result, and the process that this team has made.”
Colorado Mesa rolled to a 3-0 win against Fort Lewis College on Friday night in Grand Junction.
After a big three-game winning streak, FLC (9-14, 5-9 RMAC) has now dropped three of its last four after Friday night’s 25-16, 25-19, 25-23 loss to the Mavericks (14-8, 10-4 RMAC).
Colorado Mesa boasted a .299 hitting percentage compared to .119 for FLC. The Mavericks were led by 17 kills from Kasie Gilfert, while Ara Norwood had a match-high 29 assists and Kerstin Layman had 16 digs.
Bailey Longacre led FLC with 10 kills, while Tye Wedhorn recored a match-high five blocks. Payton Harmann had 25 assists for FLC, and Kamryn Lopez led the team with nine digs.
Bayfield alumna Maddi Foutz played two sets for the Mavericks on Friday night. She had one ace.
FLC will play Western Colorado at 3 p.m. Saturday in Gunnison before a return trip home next week to play New Mexico Highlands and CSU-Pueblo.
The Skyhawks are 13th in the RMAC standings but only two games out of eighth place. The top-eight teams make the conference tournament. The Skyhawks have four games to play in the regular season.
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