Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Britney Johnson 11.1
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
FLC senior Britney Johnson (No. 18) scored a goal in Friday's 2-0 victory over CSU-Pueblo (File Photo)
2
Winner Fort Lewis FLC (6-6-3, 5-4-3)
0
Colorado St.-Pueblo CSUP (6-8-2, 5-5-2)
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
(6-6-3, 5-4-3)
2
Final
0
Colorado St.-Pueblo CSUP
(6-8-2, 5-5-2)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fort Lewis FLC 1 1 2
Colorado St.-Pueblo CSUP 0 0 0

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

FLC pushes winning streak to three games, controls its own destiny after 2-0 win over CSU-Pueblo

PUEBLO, Colorado — Facing its third straight must-win situation, the Fort Lewis College women's soccer team rose to the occasion on a chilly Friday evening in Pueblo, upending Colorado State University-Pueblo by a 2-0 final.

The three-game winning streak is a season-long for the Skyhawks (6-6-3 overall, 5-4-3 RMAC), who also picked up their second road win of 2019 and more importantly leapfrogged the ThunderWolves (6-8-2 overall, 5-5-2 RMAC) and Colorado Mesa University to move into seventh in the RMAC standings with one game left to play.

Top-eight teams in the RMAC standings qualify for the RMAC Tournament, scheduled to get underway next weekend.

"I think when you beat a team ahead of you, and come to their place to do it, you have to give the kids a lot of credit for just hanging in there and continuing to believe in what they're doing and being asked to do," said Fort Lewis College head women's soccer coach, Damian Clarke. "When it comes down to it, the team has gained confidence slowly, even in games where they didn't necessarily get the result. They knew they were doing things well and growing as a team. Now we're one step closer to being able to reset our goals of not just getting into the conference tournament, but trying to go win a game and asking some questions of people."

Fort Lewis received goals from a pair of seniors in the victory as Valerie Maestas tallied her second goal of the season, while midfielder turned defenseman Britney Johnson headed home her second goal of 2019, as well.

Maestas' goal came near the end of the first half as she navigated heavy traffic in front of the net to put the Skyhawks on the scoreboard in the 41st minute.

"It was a massive goal. I think we were outshooting them 9-2 at that point and it really felt like it was coming because we were passing the ball well inside their half and creating opportunities," Clarke said of Maestas' goal. "I think tactically the girls did a good job of sticking to our plan and it paid off. When you score a goal late in a half, it's a complete momentum shifter."

Johnson added a late goal of her own in the 79th minute as she got her head on a corner kick sent in by fellow senior Emma Patron to deliver the metaphorical dagger with just 11:48 remaining.

"It was an important goal for us and for Brit. She's sacrificed a lot to be a center back because it's not necessarily what she wants to do, but for her to get forward and score a goal I think is an awesome touch to her senior season," Clarke said. "It was a well-placed ball from Emma and Brit has a good sense of where she needed to be."

As a team, Fort Lewis finished with a 15-13 shots advantage and were able to hold off the last gasps from CSU-P as freshman goalkeeper Katherine Dunbabin made back-to-back saves at the 87:24 and 89:58 marks, respectively.

The clean sheet marked the fourth shutout in nine career starts for Dunbabin, who now owns a sparkling .895 save percentage and 0.86 goals against average on the season.

Fort Lewis will now turn its attention toward Sunday's 11 a.m. regular season finale on the road against New Mexico Highlands University (0-14 overall, 0-12 RMAC). A win solidifies a spot in the RMAC Tournament for the Skyhawks, who currently sit in a tie for sixth place with Metro State University of Denver with 18 points; one point ahead of CSU-Pueblo and two points in front of Colorado Mesa.

"'Just don't let it be a trap game,'" said Clarke when asked about his message to his team heading into Sunday. "Obviously, it's a Highlands team that has had a difficult season, but this is also a situation where this is their last game and they are a capable team. I think this is still a difficult situation, so we need to go in with the right mindset and make sure we take care of business."
Print Friendly Version