Box score

DENVER — All it took was 10 minutes for Regis (11-4-1 overall, 9-2-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) to drastically change the momentum in a 6-3 win over No. 22 Fort Lewis Friday afternoon at the Regis Match Pitch.
 
Sade Akindele, Sidny Otto, Meghan Stuart, and Marissa Davis all scored in a 10-minute span between the 50th and 60th minutes to turn a 2-2 halftime game into a 6-3 Regis rout.
 
“Absolutely bonkers,” was how sixth-year FLC head coach Damian Clarke described it. “They just did very, very well to cause problems and create 1-v-1s in the back against us and we didn't find a way to answer it.”
 
The see-saw first half started promisingly enough for the Skyhawks, who found themselves two points behind Regis in the race for the RMAC regular season title at kickoff and five points back by game's end.
 
Megan Striedel put FLC on top 1-0 when she collected a rebound and did some fancy footwork in the box before burying a shot behind Ranger goalkeeper Ellen Augsburger at 19:50. The goal was Striedel's fifth of the season.
 
Regis countered with Stuart's first goal of the game at 25:27. Stuart took a cross from the right from Erin Kellerman and beat FLC starting keeper Amanda Raso.
 
It took little time, though — less than three minutes, to be precise — for the Skyhawks to regain control. Sam Weiss sent a cross in from the top of the box that Striedel got a touch on. Molly Celler was the beneficiary, netting for her fourth marker of the 2012 campaign at 27:44.
 
A fluke play allowed Regis to level the score late in the half. “We had a little bit of an unfortunate goal we kind of gave up to allow them to tie the game,” said Clarke. “Raso went to clear a ball and hit a defender and it went to their forward.”
 
Akindele corralled the errant clearing attempt and literally dribbled into the empty goal to knot the score at 2-2 at 39:06.
 
“Other than that, in the first half we were very good,” Clarke said. “We kept the ball extremely well and scored a couple of good goals.”
 
Clarke changed goalkeepers at halftime, but Regis' offensive pressure forced the Skyhawks into defensive miscues and created scoring changes aplenty.
 
Akindele played ungrateful host to FLC's backup goalie, Caitlyn Espinosa, by netting  her second goal of the game and ninth of the season just four minutes into the second stanza to give Regis its first lead. Stuart and Otto assisted on the play.
 
Three-and-a-half minutes later, Otto scored off a Kendal Kagawa assist.
 
Order was briefly restored for FLC when Weiss played a ball to Therese Romero from the left flank that Romero deposited into the netting for her second goal of the season, trimming the margin to 4-3 at 54:24.
 
Two minutes later, though, the lead was back to two for the Rangers when Stuart scored her second of the day and fifth of the season off an Otto helper.
 
Marissa Davis ended the deluge by scoring her eighth off the season off an Akindele set-up at 58:29.
 
The Rangers outshot Fort Lewis 16-7 overall and 9-7 in shots on goal. Raso surrendered two goals and made one save in 45 minutes of work. Espinosa allowed four scores while making two saves to take the loss in her half of action.
 
Ellen Augsburger gave up three goals and made four saves in a complete-game effort for Regis.
 
“We're going to live to fight another day and hopefully we grow from it,” said Clarke, whose team lost valuable standing in the race for the NCAA Division II playoffs. Fort Lewis came into the game ranked No. 5 in the South Central Region, but in a virtual deadlock with Regis and Colorado Mines. The top six teams from the region advance to the Big Dance, which begins in three weeks. Three bids, though, are automatic qualifiers earned by tournament champions in the RMAC, Heartland, and Lone Star conferences, leaving just three at-large berths up for grabs.
 
At the end of Friday's competition, the bottleneck at the top of the RMAC standings remained, although some teams shuffled positions. Regis and UC-Colorado Springs (2-1 winners at Colorado Christian today) remain deadlocked at 25 points with 8-2-1 league records. Colorado Mines (3-2 winners at New Mexico Highlands) sits right behind the Rangers and Mountain Lions at 24 points (8-3-0). Metro State (1-0 losers at Colorado Mesa) fell out of a three-way tie atop the leader board and is now all alone in fourth with 22 points (7-3-1). FLC's loss and Mesa's win means the two West Slope rivals share fifth place with 20 points (6-3-2). No other RMAC team is within realistic striking distance of the playoffs.
 
The Skyhawks hope to rebound and earn three valuable points with a victory at Colorado State-Pueblo (1-11-2, 1-9-1) at noon Sunday. Fort Lewis defeated the ThunderWolves 1-0 at Dirks Field in Durango a week ago.