Box Score
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Megan Striedel scored a pair of goals and assisted on another as the No. 10 Fort Lewis women's soccer team (2-0-0 overall) defeated Texas A&M-Commerce (1-1-0) 4-2 today at the MSU Soccer Field.
“We're just a little bit more athletic than everybody that we've seen so far,” sixth-year FLC head coach Damian Clarke said after his Skyhawks rallied from a 2-1 deficit.
“That's a tougher team,” he said of the Lions. “They kick it as far as they can and they're fast up top. They're just ruthless in terms of putting it behind you and making it really difficult. They're tough and coached pretty well in terms of discipline and doing what they're asked to do.”
The Skyhawks actually struck first in this one when Striedel netted her first goal of the year at 2:19.
“The first goal was after a throw-in,” said Clarke. “The ball ricocheted around a little bit and Striedel just ran to it and headed it into the goal.”
The lead was short lived, though. Sixteen seconds later, Commerce's Brionna Minde scored off an assist by Catie Hyde to level the score at 1-1.
Less than 10 minutes later, Minde set up Anita Wright to make it 2-1 in favor of the Lions.
“They're second goal was fantastic,” said Clarke. “They ran around our left side, kicked it all the way to the far post, and the kid volleys it into the top netting.”
Striedel equalized at 17:16 when she and
Elena Benavides connected on a short combination in the box.
“The ball got through and Striedel just drove it low and it deflected into the goal.”
The Lions suffered a major blow at 32:15 when their only goalkeeper, Tracey Rogers, was injured. Commerce turned to a pair of field players — Minde (the remainder of the first frame) and Allie Burks (the entire second stanza) — to finish the game between the pipes.
“I kind of knew that we were eventually going to have a chance to get something by them,” said Clarke.
The Skyhawk manager had his own goalkeeper injury to focus on. For the second game in a row, FLC starter
Caitlyn Espinosa was injured. On Friday in a 3-0 win over Midwestern State, it was a black eye. Today, Espinosa hurt a finger on Commerce's first goal but finished out the half.
Amanda Raso (1-0-0) entered and made two saves in the second half to pick up her first victory of the season.
“It's a nice problem to have three good keepers,” said Clarke. “We're in a good situation to have a well-contested position. Raso has been fantastic in terms of finishing both games off.”
Meanwhile, a Commerce goalkeeping miscue played a big factor in the game-winning goal when junior defender
Lauren Riley's 35-yard free kick at 58:23 found its way across the goal line.
“Lauren just dropped it in on the goalkeeper, who dropped it into the goal,” said Clarke. “It was a little bit fortunate. I'll take it.”
For Riley, a defensive-minded central fullback, it was the first marker of her collegiate career. In fact, she'd only had five total shots in her previous 46 games in Skyhawk blue.
Striedel freed
Sam Weiss in the 84th minute for the final tally. Coupled with her two goals in Friday's 3-0 win over Midwestern State, the sophomore striker already has amassed half of her six-goal output of 2011.
“The fourth goal was just Sam running away from people and setting up a 1v1 chance,” said Clarke.
Fort Lewis outshot the Lions 18-10 overall, 10-4 in shots on goal.
The victory was FLC's first-ever against Texas A&M-Commerce, which leads the all-time series 2-1-0.
The Skyhawks open their home slate of games when they host Angelo State at noon next Sunday at Dirks Field. The Rambelles are 2-0-0 this year, having beaten Texas-Permian Basin 2-0 on Thursday and New Mexico Highlands 2-1 yesterday. ASU is 2-1-4 all-time against FLC.
