It was a tough season opener for the Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team.
A young team with 17 new players from last year’s roster drove to Wichita Falls, Texas, to take on the No. 6 team in the country Friday against Midwestern State.
The Skyhawks trailed 1-0 at halftime and fell 3-0 to the Mustangs. FLC was outshot 9-5 in the game.
Scott Doney opened the scoring in the first half when he scored after a cross from the left side of the field to the center of the box. He was assisted by Sebastian Venegas and Alex Mullet.
Carlos Flores scored again for Midwestern State in the 56th minute, as he scored from the right side of the box with an assist from Alex Simitriu.
Koby Sapon-Amoah put the finishing touches on the Skyhawks with a header goal in the 74th minute with an assist off a perfect crossing pass from Flores.
FLC had three players, Robby Baca, Salifu Jatta and Ryan Lee, pick up yellow cards in the game’s final 15 minutes. Peter Byrne played all 90 minutes in goal for FLC and made one save. Taylor Lampe made three saves in goal for the Mustangs.
The Skyhawks will play against at 10 a.m. Sunday in Wichita Falls against Texas A&M International.
The Fort Lewis women’s soccer team picked up the pace in the second half and rallied back from a 2-0 deficit for a 2-2 draw with Eastern New Mexico in the Skyhawks’ season opener Friday at Greyhound Stadium in Portales, New Mexico.
After heading into halftime with a scoreless match, Eastern notched two goals on corner kicks, separated by about six minutes, to take a 2-0 lead in the 56th minute.
The Skyhawks answered quickly with senior forward Alicia Sanchez drawing a penalty kick and driving her PK past the ENM keeper in the 59th minute.
“We made some changes that were good,” FLC head coach Jimmy Hall said of the second half. “Valerie Maestas did a great job jumping on board and getting to the end line. Renee (Terrell) and Alicia Sanchez, it takes time to pair as forwards and find that cohesion, and I felt like they got stronger and stronger as the game went on.”
The Skyhawks’ second goal came in the final minutes of the match. In the 89th minute, FLC earned a corner kick, one of eight in the match. Emma Patron played the ball into the box, finding Kendyl Neus for the header to tie the match.
Fort Lewis will continue its road trip to start the season, travelling to Canyon, Texas, to face West Texas A&M at noon on Sunday.
Hall said the Skyhawks can build off the strong possessions they had in the opener while cleaning up their defense against set pieces.
“We need to become more aggressive on set pieces,” Hall said. “We can’t allow goals like that to go in. It’s too hard to score goals to let ones like those in.”
The Skyhawks picked up two wins in Oklahoma to open the season Friday.
Fort Lewis defensed Jarvis Christian College and University of Science and Arts both by 3-0 scores. FLC beat Jarvis Christian 25-13, 25-9, 25-12 for an emphatic win. Statistics for the game against Science and Arts were not available.
Bailey Longacre had nine kills for FLC against Jarvis Christian. Hannah Martinez had a perfect hitting percentage on six kills. She also had two aces, five digs and one block. Laine Waters and Maddie LeBlanc each had six kills, and LeBlanc added four blocks. Emily Dellenbach also went 5-for-5 on kill attempts.
Elise Hill and Katherine Potter each had four aces, as the Skyhawks totaled 13 in the match.
FLC will face Oklahoma Panhandle State at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by a 3 p.m. showdown with Northwestern Oklahoma State.
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