Box score

DENVER — No. 1 Regis (12-0-1, 10-0-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) got a little extra help in defeating defending NCAA Division II national champion Fort Lewis (8-5-2, 5-4-2) 5-2 today at the Regis Match Pitch.
 
Regis benefitted from a handball in the offensive box to score their first goal just 11:08 into the game when Adam Tormoehlen knocked a ball down to his feet and beat FLC freshman goalkeeper Cooper Hall — making his first collegiate start — to give the top-ranked Rangers a 1-0 lead.
 
The Rangers netted a clean goal 14 minutes later when Adam Tarnoczi scored of Tormoehlen's assist.
 
Alberto Capdepon, who subbed into the lineup after Tarnoczi's goal, scored just 50 seconds later to trim the lead to 2-1.
 
Then the wheels quickly came off in the 27th minute. FLC's Aaron Kloer was tripped from behind, losing control of the ball to Regis. He immediately retaliated, drawing a red card. A shoving match erupted involving players from both squads. When the dust settled, Capdepon had been sent off with a red card and FLC's Casey Dean and Regis' David Key had been issued yellow cards.
 
“The decision, when I asked about it, (the referee) said the Regis player pushed the Fort Lewis player and the Fort Lewis player pushed the Regis,” said Kennedy. “Very bizarre,” he said of the decision to eject two Skyhawks and no Rangers.
 
Kennedy himself was given a yellow card just two minutes later.
 
Playing two men down, Fort Lewis managed to play level with the Rangers for the next 20 minutes before Yannis Becker converted a penalty kick just 2:45 into the second frame, evening the score at 2-2.
 
“I'm really proud of how the guys played with nine men,” said Kennedy, who subbed two midfielders for two forwards as FLC played four mids and four defenders for much of the game. “We tried our best to keep ourselves in the game. Unfortunately, we just gave ourselves too much of a disadvantage with nine players. They did Fort Lewis proud.”
 
The Skyhawks kept things even for the next nine minutes before a pair of goals by Martin Maybin — his 10th and 11th of the season — within an 11-second span in the 57th minute pushed the lead to 4-2. Tarnoczi added his second in the 64th minute and the Rangers could have netted a sixth, but Hall stopped a penalty kick by Ryan Urwiller with 1:06 remaining in the game.
 
“You don't like to blame referees, but unfortunately when decisions are made like that, it's difficult to come back,” said Kennedy.
 
Fort Lewis fell to 0-5-0 all-time when facing the No. 1 team in the nation. Prior losses to No. 1-ranked teams included a 4-2 loss at Dirks Field to Colorado Mines on Oct. 1, 2010; a 2-1 loss at West Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs on Nov. 8, 2007; a 1-0 loss to Dowling in the NCAA-II title bout on Nov. 18, 2006, in Pensacola, Fla.; and a 2-1 overtime loss to Southern Connecticut State in the NCAA-II title game on Dec. 5, 1999, in Miami Shores, Fla.
 
Regis ended a 10-game drought against Fort Lewis, which still leads the all-time series with the Rangers 32-11-5. FLC was 8-0-2 in the last 10 meetings between the two schools. The last Regis win in the series was a 1-0 Regis triumph on Sept. 9, 2007, on the Regis Match Pitch.
 
FLC's final regular season road game will be played at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Colorado State-Pueblo (4-7-4, 2-5-4). The ThunderWolves have played three straight scoreless draws, including a 0-0 tilt at FLC's Dirk Field last Friday. The Skyhawks lead the all-time series with CSU-Pueblo 39-7-3.