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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

MSOC Celebration
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
Fort Lewis players celebrating after Sunday's 2-0 win over CSU-Pueblo.
0
Colorado St.-Pueblo CSUP (6-11-0, 6-7-0)
2
Winner Fort Lewis FLC (10-4-4, 7-4-2)
Colorado St.-Pueblo CSUP
(6-11-0, 6-7-0)
0
Final
2
Fort Lewis FLC
(10-4-4, 7-4-2)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Colorado St.-Pueblo CSUP 0 0 0
Fort Lewis FLC 1 1 2

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

Skyhawks blank CSU-Pueblo on Senior Day to punch ticket to RMAC Tournament

DURANGO, Colorado — Sunday's regular season finale between the Fort Lewis College men's soccer team and Colorado State University-Pueblo was emotionally charged before the opening kick.

Each team had its season on the line. The winner was guaranteed a spot in the RMAC Tournament, while the loser was only left with a long winter of what-ifs.

Fort Lewis rose to the occasion, earning a 2-0 victory over the visiting ThunderWolves on Senior Day to punch its ticket back to the RMAC Tournament, starting with a quarterfinal matchup against rivals Colorado Mesa University at 3 p.m. Thursday.

"It's a big, emotion win on Senior Day. It was 'We win, we're in. Or we lose and Pueblo is in,'" said Fort Lewis head men's soccer coach, David Oberholtzer. "Both teams knew there was a lot riding on it and we're glad to get the win. I don't think it was pretty by any means. I thought we were off our game a bit, but we did what was needed."

The Skyhawks (10-4-4 overall, 8-4-2 RMAC) put the pressure squarely on CSU-Pueblo (7-11 overall, 7-7 RMAC) early on when junior midfielder Brantley Bice cashed in a free kick opportunity from just outside the box, tucking his shot just below the crossbar at the 19:02 mark.

For Bice, it was his fifth goal of the season and fourth in the last six games to up his team-leading point total to 15.

It was one of the few scoring chances on the afternoon for the Skyhawks, who also had a Ryan Lee shot ring off the right post, but finished the afternoon with seven shots and five shots on goal.

"I thought we were going to create more chances and I thought there was a lot of space for us… I'd have liked to score a couple more goals and we talked about it at halftime about making things a little more comfortable on ourselves. But we don't like to do that. We like to take the hard route," Oberholtzer jested.

The score remained 1-0 late into the second half, thanks in large part to FLC redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Peter Byrne as he stopped all four shots on goal he faced Sunday and navigated heavy pressure – eight second-half shot attempts — by the ThunderWolves.

Fort Lewis put the cherry on top of the victory at the 88:15 mark when the Skyhawks caught the ThunderWolves in a counterattack.

Lee corralled a loose ball around midfield and won a one-on-one footrace against the lone CSU-Pueblo defender back. After drawing the goalkeeper out, Lee calmly played a cross over to senior Hakeem Rabiu, who tapped in metaphorical dagger.

"We weren't necessarily looking for the second goal. We knew that they had to press and that (counterattack) might be an option," Oberholtzer said. "The tactic was more to stay solid and keep it out of our goal. But we knew that the break would be there because they had to push forward."

It was a special moment for Rabiu, who was one of four FLC seniors to be honored prior to Sunday's finale alongside midfielder Max Fuentes Carrera, defenseman Ty Lang and defenseman Marshall Metzger.

"I'm super proud and thankful for the seniors," Oberholtzer said. "I'm really proud of them and not just from the standpoint of what they've done their entire careers here."

The FLC senior class, and the rest of the Skyhawks, will look to keep their 2019 season going when they travel out to face Colorado Mesa University on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the RMAC Tournament.  It'll be the third meeting of the season between Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa. The two teams played each other to a 1-1 tie in Grand Junction back on Sept. 20 and then a scoreless tie in Durango this past Friday.

Oberholtzer said he is confident the Skyhawks have the makeup to be a tough out and to potentially make some noise when the RMAC Tournament kicks off at 3 p.m. Thursday back in Grand Junction.

"I think we have the ability, the chemistry and the effort to do a lot of things," Oberholtzer said. "Where that takes us I don't know. We have the ability to do a lot more…We'll try to play as many games as we can."
 
 
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