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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Loic 9.22
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
FLC redshirt sophomore Loic Jean-Baptiste scored the game-winning goal in Sunday's 1-0 victory over Adams State.
0
Adams St. ASU (0-4-0, 0-1-0)
1
Winner Fort Lewis FLC (3-0-3, 0-0-1)
Adams St. ASU
(0-4-0, 0-1-0)
0
Final
1
Fort Lewis FLC
(3-0-3, 0-0-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Adams St. ASU 0 0 0 0
Fort Lewis FLC 0 0 1 1

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

Jean-Baptiste scores game-winner, leads Skyhawks to 1-0 overtime win against Adams State in home opener

DURANGO, Colorado — The Fort Lewis College men's soccer team made its 2019 debut at Dirks Field on Saturday, snapping a mini two-game tie streak in dramatic fashion with a 1-0 overtime victory against Adams State University.

Redshirt sophomore Loic Jean-Baptiste played hero as he received a feed from junior Brantley Bice and buried a shot past the outstretched arms of Adams State goalkeeper Jacob Faircloth just 90 seconds into the overtime period.

"I'm certainly happy with the response and the ability to find a way to get a win," said Fort Lewis head coach, David Oberholtzer. "That's something that hadn't happened in the two overtime games prior. To end up getting the goal and finding a way to win is a great characteristic of this team in general."

The goal from Jean-Baptiste alleviated some frustration the still-unbeaten Skyhawks (3-0-3 overall, 1-0-1 RMAC) felt during portions of the first 90 minutes as both FLC and Adams State (0-4 overall, 0-2 RMAC) each struggled to generate quality scoring opportunities.

Fort Lewis produced a game-high 21 shots, seven of them on goal, lead by Jean Baptiste's four shots on goal.

The Frenchman was denied a goal late in the first half on two spectacular saves by Faircloth on back-to-back shots from just outside the box before being rewarded for his hard work in the overtime period.

"I think the difference between that final move and a lot of the opportunities we had was we actually settled down when we entered (Adams State's) half and connected a simple pass," Oberholtzer said. "I think the game got a bit frantic and opened up. On that last move, (Bice) took a breath and just connected a simple pass as opposed to the little bit of panic and frantic play we had earlier."

The game-winner was the third goal of the young season for Jean-Baptiste, who is currently tied with junior forward Ryan Lee for the team lead and also ranked second on the Skyhawks in shots on goal (10) so far this season.

"He's had a really great start to the year and is a lot of fun to watch. He does a lot for us as a team going forward," Oberholtzer said of Jean-Baptiste. "He's just so deceptive in his movement and is composed with the ball. I think he was a little unlucky to only have one goal on the day, but I think he's going to continue to be dangerous."

Defensively, the Skyhawks again received a strong effort from its back line of seniors Ty Lang and Marshall Metzger, and the trio of underclassmen in sophomore Denis Celik and freshmen Milen Manchev and Ruben Neubauer.

They helped limit Adams State to 16 total shots, six on goal, and to just four corner kicks on the afternoon.

Anchoring the back with his third shutout of the season was redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Peter Byrne, the reigning RMAC Men's Goalkeeper of the Week, who now boasts an 87% save percentage after recorded six saves on Sunday and 0.75 goals against average.

"Peter is so solid and consistent for us that I think it makes the rest of the group really confident," Oberholtzer said. "I think our back four was solid and we didn't give up many good looks. I think they had a couple shots from distance that seemed pretty comfortable for Peter."

The icing on the cake for Sunday's win for the Skyhawks was the fact the team did not have to file back into a bus after the game following a five-game road swing to begin the 2019 season.

Fort Lewis will now prepare for two more road RMAC clashes next weekend at Colorado Christian University (12:30 p.m. Friday) and Metropolitan State University of Denver (1 p.m. Sunday) before coming back home for two games the first weekend of October.

"It's a unique experience, I think, to play in front of this crowd and to be playing on Dirks Field with the backdrop that we have," Oberholtzer said. "It's a pretty special experience. And for a lot of these guys, it was their first actual RMAC conference game on Dirks Field. It was nice to come out with the three points (Sunday) and to know we don't have to get back on the road today."
 
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