Box Score
DURANGO, Colo. — Ally Kvidera scored four goals and added three assists as Fort Lewis (6-5 overall, 3-2 in the
Western Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association) rolled to a 19-8 win over Colorado Mesa (3-8, 2-4) today at Ray Dennison Memorial Field in FLC's home opener.
Second-year Skyhawk skipper Kelsey MacDonald cited strong play in all three zones and contributions from her entire squad.
“I think, for the most part, we played very strong in the midfield, definitely on the defensive transitions,” she said of her team that was successful in 20 of 23 clears. “That was key – the transition.
While Fort Lewis was efficient in clearing attempts, they forced Colorado Mesa into turnovers on numerous CMU clears. Mesa converted just 19 of 30 clearing attempts.
“I think our defense did an awesome job,” said MacDonald. “They came up with some big stops. Every time Mesa would try to get into the eight, they'd come up big and cause a turnover — especially in the first half.”
The Mavericks made 31 turnovers in the game, 17 of which occurred in the first frame.
“We moved the ball and played as a team,” said MacDonald. “The scoring was spread out, which shows how well we played together on attack.”
Abby Kvidera and
Brook Wineland each scored three goals, while
Jessica Adams,
Kathryn Dunn,
Amanda Hoffmeyer, and
Kylie Smith netted two markers apiece. Smith added a pair of assists.
The Skyhawks jumped out to an 8-0 lead and held Colorado Mesa scoreless until Rachel Sutton scored the first of her two goals with 5:45 remaining in the first half. The Mavs made a mini run over the next three minutes to close the gap to 8-4 with 2:33 remaining, forcing MacDonald to burn a timeout.
Fort Lewis settled down for the remainder of the first half and the Kvidera twins worked some last-second magic as Ally set up Abby for a goal at the buzzer to make the score 9-4 at intermission.
After recess, the Skyhawks scored a pair of quick goals and five of the first six to take a 14-5 lead a third of the way into the stanza. Fort Lewis never let up, blistering the Mavs for 45 total shots and 35 shots on target.
Colorado Mesa goalkeeper Lauren Wells (3-8) kept the score closer by making 16 saves.
Lexie Chavez recorded a three-goal hat trick to lead the Mavs, while Sutton and Kate Diamond each had two markers.
Fort Lewis'
Genna Waugh (5-4) made eight saves.
The Skyhawks won most statistical categories, including ground balls (31-18), draw controls (17-11), and caused turnovers (20-13).
Wineland led the way with six ground balls, five caused turnovers, and three draw controls. Her five caused turnovers tied the school record for most in a game. Hoffmeyer had eight draw controls, which tied for second most in school history.
Lauren Elliott recorded six ground balls and four caused turnovers for CMU.
Fort Lewis swept the season series with the Mavericks and improved to 4-0 all-time against the second-year program.
The Mavericks play Colorado College (9-2) at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Dennison Field. Fort Lewis then wraps up the weekend by facing the Tigers at 1 p.m. Sunday at Dennison, although Sunday's game time might be moved up to allow officials and CC to get over the passes during daylight hours. A decision will be made by the umpires and coaches tomorrow.
Today's game was played in blustery conditions, with occasionally snow, gusty winds, overcast skies, and temperatures that dipped below freezing. The weather forecast for the next two days isn't much brighter.
