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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Julia Johnson 3.12
Bob Bonnar, FLC Athletics
FLC freshman Julia Johnson (#29) scored her first career goal in Friday's 1-1 draw against Westminster.
1
Westminster (UT) WC (0-1-1, 0-0-0)
1
Fort Lewis FLC (0-0-2, 0-0-0)
Westminster (UT) WC
(0-1-1, 0-0-0)
1
Final
1
Fort Lewis FLC
(0-0-2, 0-0-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 OT 2 F
Westminster (UT) WC 0 1 0 0 1
Fort Lewis FLC 0 1 0 0 1

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

Johnson's first career goal helps Skyhawks earn a draw against Westminster

DURANGO, Colorado — Not all ties feel the same.

With their backs against the wall, a young Fort Lewis College women's soccer team took another step forward with a goal in the 86th minute to earn a draw against the visiting Westminster Griffins on a windy afternoon at Dirks Field.

"We're happy with the response and having to do it against a good team like Westminster," said FLC head women's soccer coach Damian Clarke, referencing a Griffins team that came to Durango with a win (Southern Utah) and a tie (Idaho State) against two NCAA Division I opponents. "At the end of the day, we were hoping our team was going to be tougher this year and have the mentality to win games and compete against teams that have beat us the last few years. Westminster was one of those teams we needed a result against to feel like we were making real progress."

Fort Lewis (0-0-2 overall) had two freshmen rise to the occasion in the final minutes of regulation as forward McKenna Ford won a tackle in the Griffins (1-0-2 overall) midfield and threaded a lead pass to Julia Johnson, who calmly buried the equalizer past a diving Westminster goalkeeper.

Westminster briefly took the lead in the 74th minute on a rocket from 35 yards out by Dominique Estrada. The Griffins kept the pressure up, outshooting the Skyhawks 7-2 in the second half, but the Skyhawks were able to capitalize on the late opportunity.

"I thought we struggled to relax and just pass the ball to each other in that second half. We got frantic and couldn't figure it out, but we figured it out at the right time," Clark said. "Being that late in the game, for us to all of a sudden settle down for a second, win a tackle and connect a final pass to score a goal I thought showed a lot of character."

Johnson, originally listed as a left-footed defender, was inserted up top of the FLC formation midway through the second half, showing off the speed and ball control that makes her another versatile newcomer to the Skyhawks' roster.

"Because she is a left-footed kid and is pacey, we knew that she could play in any attacking role and just decided pace-wise she was going to give us a lift," Clarke said. "Putting her on the right and letting her be able to cut in with her left foot is always a good tactic. We had a little good fortune and it worked out for us as coaches."

In net, sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Dunbabin was solid again as she made three saves on the afternoon and was active in goal against 12 total shots from the Griffins.

Fort Lewis finished the day with seven shots, including the only two shots on goal of the double-overtime period — courtesy of junior Katie Smith and freshman Aubrey Swindle — but came up just shy of netting a game-winner.

The Skyhawks will look to build off Saturday's positives and hunt their first victory of the season next Friday when they travel to take on Adams State University in another non-conference matchup.

Kick-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. out in Alamosa.
 
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