Box score

DENVER — Sade Akindele scored two unassisted goals as Regis (13-4-2) defeated Fort Lewis (13-4-3) 3-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women's soccer semifinals today at the Regis Match Pitch.
 
The Rangers host Colorado Mines (14-4-1) at noon Sunday in the RMAC championship game —a rarity in which the same two schools will meet on the same field for the women's and men's crowns as No. 1 Regis hosts No. 23 Colorado Mines at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the men's title bout.
 
Akindele, who was named as the RMAC Freshman of the Year earlier this week, opened the scoring in the sixth minute when she collected a corner kick that bounced off of several players in the box before shooting to the left at 5:51.
 
Her goal was the lone marker of the first half — a frame that saw the Rangers hold FLC without a shot until Lauren Riley was saved by Brianna Randall with about four minutes remaining. Randall made a game-changing save when she stopped a blast by Grace Sheridan that was ticketed for the upper 90 just moments later.
 
“In the first half, we just had a hard time feeling confident,” said sixth-year FLC head coach Damian Clarke. “We just didn't sustain it long enough and didn't deal with Sade.”
 
Akindele added her second score of the game — and 14th of the season — when she got the ball about 35 yards out, dribbled into the box and shot into the top left of the goal over a charging Skyhawk goalkeeper Amanda Raso at 51:47.
 
Regis bought some insurance when Sidny Otto headed Meaghan Stuart's cross past Raso at 56:56. The goal was Otto's 11th of 2012 and stretched the lead to 3-0.
 
Fort Lewis responded down the stretch, though. Megan Striedel was robbed by Brunson in the 58th minute. Sam Weiss hit the crossbar in the 63rd.
 
Finally, at 71:17, Weiss was able to solve Brunson and score her school-record setting 17th goal of the season. Weiss picked up the ball at the top of the box, dribbled around the Regis goalkeeper and shot into the open goal to trim the lead to 3-1.
 
“In the last 17 minutes, we were fantastic,” said Clarke. “We played three up top and put Madyson in the midfield. We created chance after chance after chance. We had the better of them at the end.”
 
Brunson redeemed herself by making back-to-back saves on Emma Cannis and Weiss in the 79th minute. Rachael Budagher then hit a crossbar and Cannis send the rebound over the net in the 82nd minute.
 
“We had six or seven good looks, but (Regis) also hit the post twice in the second half,” said Clarke. “It was one of those games that could have been 5-4 either way.
 
Brunson finished the game with six saves in improving to 8-2-0 on the season.
 
Raso, who fell to 11-3-2, didn't make a save, as the Rangers buried all three of their shots on goal.
 
Fort Lewis owned a slight, 12-11 lead in shots and a 7-3 advantage in shots on target.
 
“What can you do?” asked Clarke. “The kids really played their hearts out. Most of them were smiling at the end. They saw that they could put Regis on the ropes, and that was a good feeling for them, regardless of the outcome. We saw that we could make it difficult for them to get out of their half.”
 
Now Fort Lewis must wait for the NCAA Division II women's soccer selection show, which will air at 5:30 p.m. (MST) Monday on www.ncaa.com, to determine their postseason fate.
 
Six Central Region teams will qualify for the NCAA playoffs, with the winners of the RMAC, Heartland and Lone Star conference tournaments earning automatic bids.
 
Three teams that really don't have to worry about the results of their league tournaments are the top two Heartland sides —St. Edward's (18-1-0) and Dallas Baptist (17-2-0) — and RMAC regular season champion Regis. The three will likely be the top three seeds in the regionals.
 
One spot, of course, goes to the Lone Star tournament champ — squads that don't rank very high in the regional polls. The Lone Star semifinals will be played tonight in Canyon, Texas with West Texas A&M (11-6-1), Angelo State (11-7-1), Incarnate Word (9-7-0) and Midwestern State (7-9-3) all vying for the automatic bid.
 
That leaves three or four teams chewing their fingernails waiting for the selection show. Colorado Mines (14-4-1) controls its own fate by playing Regis on Sunday in the RMAC title game with the automatic bid on the line. Should the Orediggers win, they'll automatically qualify for the NCAA playoffs.
 
Should they lose, they'll be in the same boat as Fort Lewis (13-4-3), UC-Colorado Springs (13-4-2) and Metro State (13-5-2) waiting on Monday's announcement. Clarke thinks the Roadrunners have the upper hand based on strength of schedule.
 
One thing he is certain of is that whoever faces Regis in the NCAA playoffs will have their hands full.
 
“I wouldn't be surprised if they win the national championship,” he said. “J.B. (Belzer, the longtime Regis skipper) has done a good enough job with that team to make it difficult for anyone to beat them.”
 
If the Skyhawks are denied a chance to return to the Big Dance for the fourth year in a row, then today's game marked the end of the careers of three Fort Lewis seniors: Budagher, Elena Benavides and Serena Mancha.
 
“These kids have given their hearts and souls to this program,” said Clarke. “They've been an absolute joy to be a part of. We wish them all the luck on the next steps in their lives. Hopefully that next step includes another game.”