Box score

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Yannis Becker banged home the rebound of Zac Lawrence's shot in the final minute of the second overtime to lift No. 22 Fort Lewis (4-1-0 overall, 1-0-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) to a 1-0 win over Colorado Mesa (2-2-1, 0-1) tonight at Walker Field.
 
Lawrence hit the crossbar with a shot and Becker, a German midfielder playing in his first season at Fort Lewis, buried the rebound with just 25 seconds remaining in the game for his team-leading fourth goal of the season — and third game-winner.
 
“He's definitely dangerous in front of goal,” fourth-year FLC head coach Oige Kennedy said of Becker. “He had a big impact on the game.”
 
He was also quick to praise four players who haven't received a lot of playing time of late, but who were forced into action due to injuries.
 
“Tonight, I'm especially proud of some of the redshirt freshman guys like Austin Derksen, Trevor Gibbons, and Zac Lawrence — and Jordan Alexander, who hasn't gotten much playing time lately,” he said. “Those guys were on the field at the end and got us the win.”
 
The hard-luck Mavs were looking for their first-ever win over the perennial national powerhouse Skyhawks. Fort Lewis now leads the all-time series against CMU 10-0-1. Fort Lewis has won nine straight in the series, allowing just one goal during that five-year span.
 
“It was a tough game,” said Kennedy. “They had an awesome crowd and a great atmosphere. It was a good night game.
 
“We played well in the first 20 minutes and then kind of faded. In the second half, we didn't play well early and kind of got back into it at the end. We struggled to create some good goal-scoring opportunities. We had a lot of possession, but in that final third just failed to create opportunities. Toward the end, Mesa packed it in. I'm proud of our guys for punching away.”
 
In a match that was nearly as even as the final score indicated, Colorado Mesa received strong play from goalkeeper Micah Conrads, who made six saves. Fort Lewis outshot the Mavs 9-7 overall and 7-3 in shots on frame. Conrads' FLC counterpart, Ryan Schaul, stopped all three CMU shots on target in recording his third shutout of the season.
 
Fort Lewis returns to Durango for their home opener at Dirks Field against arch-rival Colorado Mines (3-1-1, 0-0-1) at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The Orediggers tied Colorado State-Pueblo 1-1 earlier today.
 
The rivalry between the Skyhawks and Orediggers is amongst the fiercest in NCAA Division II. While FLC owns a 28-13-4 lead in the series, the two schools have combined for 13 RMAC regular season titles (9 by the Skyhawks) and 14 RMAC playoff championships (11 by the Skyhawks) in the 16 previous seasons that the league has sponsored men's soccer. Box score