Box Score

DURANGO, Colo. – After sputtering on the offensive end in three early-season losses, the defending national champion Fort Lewis College men's soccer team found its scoring stride today in a 3-1 victory over CSU-Pueblo at Dirks Field.

Second-year head coach Oige Kennedy wasn't dissatisfied with scoring opportunities that the Skyhawks (2-3 overall, 1-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) generated in the first two weeks of the season. He was just frustrated that FLC couldn't finish.

“Today was a different end result,” he said. “We were patient, everybody moved off the ball, and we had great work down the side. Maybe we had just a little bit more hunger to score. We need to continue that on into next week.”

Senior midfielder Keane Hamilton started the scoring off, collecting a pass from Cory Dean and outmuscling CSU-Pueblo (2-4, 1-1) defenders near the top of the box before sliding a shot past ThunderWolves goalkeeper Jacob Blum at 14:55 to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

The Skyhawks possessed the ball for most of the first half, but a misplayed ball by FLC goalkeeper Nate Bell gave CSU-Pueblo a chance to level the score late in the first half. Alex Raygoza played a ball over the top that slipped past Bell. A chase ensued between FLC defender Jamie Cunningham and CSUP forward Dustin Geist. Both players slid for the ball as it rolled toward the goal, with Cunningham trying to clear it wide and Geist trying to touch it into the back of the net. Geist prevailed, knotting the score a 1-1 at 36:11.

Unshaken, Fort Lewis took the lead for good at 42:15 when Jordan Alexander collected a crossing pass from Thomas Hoang and lifted a shot over Blum for what proved to be the game-winner. For Alexander, a freshman from Cambridgeshire, England, it marked his first collegiate goal.

The Skyhawks added an insurance goal at 53:12 with a tic-tac passing sequence that would've made World Cup champions Spain proud. After FLC worked the ball down the right side of the field, Abdel Becerra found Joe Barnd near the top of the box. Hoang settled the ball, and then distributed it to Byron Cephers on the left side. Cephers launched a rocket into the upper 90 that Blum had no chance at.

Fort Lewis dominated the statistics, outshooting CSUP 19-5 and winning the shots-on-goal battle 9-2. Blum made six saves for the ThunderWolves, while Bell was forced to make just one save for FLC.

The Skyhawks hit the road for a two-game trek into Southern Colorado next weekend, playing at Adams State (0-5, 0-2) at 3 p.m. Friday and at UC-Colorado Springs (1-4, 0-1) at noon Sunday.