Box Score

ALAMOSA, Colo. – Defending NCAA Division II national champion Fort Lewis College defeated second-year program Adams State College 6-0 today at Murphy Field.

Junior midfielder Thomas Hoang scored a pair of goals and assisted on another as the Skyhawks notched their third straight win to improve to 4-3 overall, 3-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

“We scored goals from different areas,” said second-year head coach Oige Kennedy. “The younger guys came in and did very well. Thomas Hoang had two goals and looked very strong in the midfield.”

Hoang put the Skyhawks on the scoreboard at 14:38 with a strike from 30 yards out. Senior midfielder Keane Hamilton assisted on Hoang's goal, which came on FLC's ninth shot of the game.

Less than four minutes later, junior midfielder Joey Madigan notched his second goal of the season, beating an Adams State defender before firing a low shot to the right at 18:02.

Freshman striker Jordan Alexander netted a goal for the third straight game at 32:56 when he took a cross from senior defender Kyle Wood and scored in the box to make the count 3-0.

The Skyhawks raced out of halftime by scoring three more goals in a 10-minute span. Senior defender Jamie Cunningham notched his first goal of the season at 48:40 when he headed in a corner kick taken by Hoang. Hoang buried a penalty kick at 55:42 for his second of the match and third of the season. Hamilton finished the scoring at 58:21 when Alexander sprung him with a pass that beat two defenders.

The Skyhawks outshot the Grizzlies (0-6, 0-3) 43-3 overall and 20-0 in shots-on-goal.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Nate Bell recorded his second straight shutout, but was not called upon to make a save.

Adams State goalies Paul Pizza and Dillon Lee combined for 14 saves. Pizza allowed five goals in 59:06 of action, while Dillon was beaten just once in nearly 31 minutes of work.

Still, Kennedy saw improvement in the Grizzlies from 2009, when they lost to Fort Lewis 9-1 at Dirks Field.

“It's tough to build a program from scratch,” he said. “I think their coach [Tim Busen] is working hard to get the right pieces in place. We were fortunate enough to create as many opportunities as we did.”

The FLC skipper hopes his Skyhawks have rebounded after an uncharacteristic 1-3 start to their 2010 season. “After Wednesday's result for us [a 3-0 win at Mesa State], this gives us something to build on. The next few games will tell us a lot as to where this team is right now.”

Fort Lewis wraps up its three-game road trip at UC-Colorado Springs (1-6 overall, 0-3 RMAC) at noon on Sunday.