For three quarters, the Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse team looked like it had a chance at its first win over the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, but the Skyhawks ran out of gas in the fourth, leading to a 14-7 loss.
FLC had some strong moments turning the Mountain Lions over, making some strong stops in goal and driving to the goal for some high-quality looks, but UCCS’ depth and speed took over in the fourth as FLC struggled to keep possession in its senior-day loss.
However, what first-year head coach JoJo Lutz has wanted to see is improvement, and the Skyhawks definitely did that compared to their 22-7 loss at UCCS on March 20.
“We came out really strongly and made a lot of people nervous, which was really exciting,” Lutz said. “All the girls came out ready to go.”
FLC dropped to 0-9 overall and 0-7 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The loss to the Mountain Lions was FLC’s second-closest loss of the season.
Senior Marissa LaCivita led the Skyhawks with three goals, and sophomore Jasmine Nguyen finished with two goals. Junior goalkeeper Olivia Tilbury finished with 12 saves.
UCCS improved to 7-5 overall and 5-2 in the RMAC with the win. The Mountain Lions were led by Sofia Watts and Josie Leonard, each scoring three goals. Delaney Gnos finished with seven saves.
The Skyhawks had a few chances early in the first quarter, but the Mountain Lions struck first on a free shot with 10 minutes left. However, FLC struck back by causing a turnover. The Skyhawks scooped up the ground ball and found senior defender Zoi Delgado, who finished in the lower left corner to tie the game with 7:43 left in the first.
FLC had the chance to take the lead, but it had a few passes through traffic that didn’t connect. UCCS capitalized on one of those turnovers in transition with an easy finish to go up 2-1 with 4:40 left. The Skyhawks did a good job turning over the Mountain Lions, but they couldn’t capitalize and trailed 2-1 after the first quarter.
Tilbury had a strong start to the second quarter with a few saves on some free shots. LaCivita kept the Skyhawks in the game with a nice goal in transition to cut UCCS’ lead to 3-2 with 8:07 left in the half. Tilbury had another strong stop, but UCCS moved the ball well after making a save to find the open cutter for an easy score, bringing UCCS’ advantage to 4-2 with 4:32 left.
“She killed it,” Lutz said about Tilbury. “She took advantage of those times where we needed that help.”
Nguyen scored next for the Skyhawks, but UCCS feasted in transition, finding the open cutter and also showing off some good stick work to take a 6-3 lead into the half.
LaCivita had a great drive with her left hand and finished strong to cut UCCS’ lead to 6-4 with 13:01 left in the third. Tilbury continued to make stops to keep the Skyhawks in the game as she saw the ball better as the game went on. LaCivita drove to the left again and scored to cut the deficit to 7-5 with 3:50 left in the third, and UCCS took that advantage into the fourth.
“We’re super excited,” Lutz said about LaCivita. “Coach Meg has been working with her on the attacking side. The left-hand drive was open, and she was allowed to take advantage of it. It’s really exciting to see her use her IQ and skill.”
UCCS scored a long-range shot to start the fourth, but fifth-year Diamond Velasco got involved to by hitting the top left corner to cut the Mountain Lion lead to 9-6 with 10 minutes left. FLC’s endurance slowed down with low numbers, and UCCS finished the game on a 4-1 run.
FLC honored its seven seniors/fifth-year players, LaCivita, Delgado, Velasco, Sydney Tannaci, Samantha Rodgers, Valerie Garcia and Marla Warrior in a senior day ceremony with friends and family.
“It’s definitely a blessing that these girls understand how much I care about this group,” Lutz said. “I’m going to be really sad once they leave.”
The Skyhawks play at CSU Pueblo on April 12 at noon.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
