A three-goal lead at halftime wasn’t enough.
A one-goal lead the final 25 minutes wasn’t, either.
The Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team was stunned Wednesday afternoon by UC-Colorado Springs in overtime. The Skyhawks (11-8) led 3-0 at halftime but surrendered three consecutive goals that tied the match. Yannis Becker gave the No. 4 Skyhawks a lead at 4-3 just two minutes later, but an own goal with 10 minutes to play cost FLC and sent the game into overtime.
UC-Colorado Springs’ James Roberts broke free from the FLC defenders, and Skyhawks’ junior goalkeeper Ryan Schaul journeyed out of the 18-yard box to try to make a play on the ball, but it got past him, and Roberts watched the ball roll into the goal to give the fifth-seeded Mountain Lions a 5-4 overtime win in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s soccer tournament.
“They came out in the second half, and we talked about how hard the work and the energy they bring to the game,” FLC head coach Oige Kennedy said of the Mountain Lions. “Their never say die attitude, they got their reward in the second half. We wish them the best of luck.”
Senior forward Matthew Cox sparked the comeback from the Mountain Lions (10-8-1). He scored in the 50th minute when he hauled in a crossing pass from JR Calhoun and tapped it in past Schaul.
Cox scored again in the 61st minute, when he beat Schaul with a shot from the left side of the box toward the far-right post. It was Cox’s eighth goal of the year.
“This is unbelievable for the guys,” said Cox, a 6-2 forward from New Zealand. “We were 3-nil down, heads down, as well, and we’re able to get one back. The spirits lifted, and we got ourselves into it. Best win of the season, for sure.”
The FLC defensive back line kept getting beat, and Calhoun scored the equalizer just 57 seconds after Cox’s second goal. Cox said he felt less pressure on attack the entire second half.
“Holes opened up in the second half. The first half, I felt they were a lot tighter on my back,” Cox said of the FLC defense. “Maybe (FLC) was lackadaisical, 3-nil up, they thought they could afford to drop off, but we came through and scored some nice goals.”
Becker scored his second goal of the season 2 minutes, 47 seconds after Calhoun’s equalizer. He got his head perfectly square on a ball played into the box by junior midfielder Zac Lawrence to score his team-high 13th goal of the year.
But yet again, FLC couldn’t hang on to its lead, as a ball was played into the Skyhawks’ box and took a wicked bounce off a cold, hard Dirks Field. The ball bounced around and glanced off an FLC defender and into the back of the net for another equalizer in the 79th minute.
“A tough ball like that comes in the box and it’s really difficult,” Kennedy said. “Everyone is trying to get something on it and get it out, and it got one of our guys. Tough.”
FLC did its best to create chances the final 10 minutes but couldn’t get anything on goal. The teams were even in shots at 15, and the Skyhawks had one more shot on goal, 10-9.
But the game-winner came on hardly a shot at all. Roberts broke free from the back line and played a strong touch toward the goal. Schaul crept out to the top of the box to try and win it, but he missed, and Roberts was able to watch it roll in for the golden goal.
“No criticism of (Schaul); we ask him to do that,” Kennedy said of the play by his goalkeeper. “Step up and play a higher line and win the ball in the opponent’s half, that’s what we do. It didn’t work out (Wednesday), but no criticism of Ryan at all, whatsoever.”
It was a goal that ended the season for the Skyhawks, who traditionally rise to the occasion in tournament play.
“I think (Wednesday) was a perfect example of our season: Great offensive play with three goals early, and then some not so good defensive play,” Kennedy said. “The nice thing, as a coach, is I know what we need to work on for next year.”
Kennedy shouldered the blame for Wednesday’s loss. He substituted out sophomore forward Luke Lawrence, who had FLC’s first two goals of the game, along with forward Cesar Castillo, star midfielder Alberto Capdepon and Zac Lawrence in the final 7 minutes of the first half and into the second half after it became a one-goal game.
“I have to take blame myself. We played a lot lately and wanted to keep energy high, and I made changes that probably didn’t help us a lot,” he said. “It made us disjointed and definitely something I could’ve done better as a coach.”
The red-hot Mountain Lions improved to 8-2 in their last 10 games and will head to Grand Junction to play No. 1 seed and RMAC Tournament host Colorado Mesa. UC-Colorado Springs is the only RMAC team to beat the Mavericks this season, a 3-0 result Oct. 12 in Grand Junction.
“We definitely have a lot of momentum,” said UC-Colorado Springs’ head coach Johnnie Keen, who was named the RMAC Coach of the Year on Tuesday. “The guys are confident we can go in and get a result off them. We have nine seniors on this group now, and one thing we’ve talked about is extending their careers as long as possible. I’m proud the guys are doing it.”
FLC will go back to the drawing board after losing six seniors, including starters Maik Brandt, Castillo and Aaron Kloer, who all received RMAC postseason honors, as well as Capdepon and Elliot Prost, two quality midfielders.
“We graduate guys on the back line and midfield, and those are areas we will assess and see if we can bring in players to help us in those positions,” Kennedy said. “We have bright spots with Tyler Miller, Tamino (Kroeger), Luke and Zac Lawrence and Yannis (Becker) all coming back experienced.
“We have a good group going forward. We will stay together and will be hard-working at it this spring trying to get better.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
