Box score

DURANGO, Colo. —Defending NCAA Division II national champion Fort Lewis (7-4-2 overall, 4-3-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) hit two crossbars but failed to put a shot in the net as it played to a 0-0 scoreless draw through two overtimes against Colorado State-Pueblo (4-7-2, 2-5-2) today in cold and blustery conditions at Dirks Field.
 
Trevor Gibbons drew iron at 13:54 and Artur Piperkov followed suit at 26:59 as the Skyhawks dominated the first half, outshooting CSUP 12-1 in the frame. FLC only managed one shot on goal, though, in the first 45 minutes.
 
Piperkov's chance came after Casey Dean was tackled from behind while breaking in alone on a run from the left flank. The foul occurred just outside the box and deep in ThunderWolf territory, giving Piperkov a chance to curl a hard free kick from a tough angle into the crossbar.
 
Reserve forward Jordan Alexander flicked a header toward the far post just seconds before the halftime buzzer — the last good scoring chance that FLC would have until late in the second overtime.
 
Play leveled out in the second stanza, with each team recording three shots — though none were quality ones.
 
Fort Lewis goalkeeper Ryan Schaul was called upon to make the biggest of his three saves early in the first overtime period. In the first minute of extra play, CSUP's Chad Smith sent a low, hard shot from the left toward the far post that Schaul dove for and punched into the middle of the box. Denim Douglas sent the rebound wide right.
 
With time running out in the last minute of the second overtime, CSUP's Brandon Herre was whistled for a yellow card, setting Piperkov up for one last chance. Setting up in nearly the exact same spot as his first half free kick that hit the crossbar, Piperkov rifled one toward the upper 90 of the far post, missing by mere feet to end the game.
 
Fort Lewis outshot CSU-Pueblo 18-7, but only managed two on frame. Patrick Markis made two saves in recording the shutout for the ThunderWolves, while Schaul had three stops in notching his fifth clean sheet of the year for FLC.
 
With Friday's draw, the all-time series between FLC and CSUP now stands at 39-7-3.
 
Fort Lewis travels to UC-Colorado Springs (7-5-1, 6-3-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday. The surprising Mountain Lions find themselves sitting in second place in the RMAC standings with 19 points, trailing just No. 2 Regis (10-0-1, 8-0-0, 24 points). The tie gave Fort Lewis 14 points in the RMAC standings, but FLC finds itself in sixth place with just five games remaining in the regular season.
 
To have any chance at qualifying for the NCAA Division II playoffs to defend its national title, Fort Lewis likely must run the table in their final five games and win the ensuing RMAC postseason tournament … and even then, the Skyhawks would likely need help from teams in the Lone Star and Heartland conferences, as only three teams from the South Central Region will advance to the big dance.
 
UC-Colorado Springs, which throttled Adams State 4-1 today, snapped its 22-game losing skid to Fort Lewis by upsetting FLC 3-2 in Durango on Sept. 23. The Skyhawks still dominate the all-time series 38-6-4.