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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Haley Dostie celebration
Bill Sabo/CSU-Pueblo Athletics
FLC freshman Haley Dostie (center) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during Tuesday's game against CSU Pueblo.
13
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 1-0
11
CSU Pueblo CPWL 1-2
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
1-0
13
Final
11
CSU Pueblo CPWL
1-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fort Lewis FLC 8 5 13
CSU Pueblo CPWL 7 4 11

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

Skyhawks open 2021 season with 13-11 road win over CSU Pueblo

PUEBLO, Colorado — The 371-day wait between games came to an end Tuesday for the Fort Lewis College women's lacrosse team. It's current three-game win streak, dating back to the 2020 season, did not.

Behind a balanced scoring attack and a standout performance in net from sophomore goalkeeper Averi Basso, the Skyhawks earned a 13-11 non-conference road win over Colorado State University Pueblo to open the 2021 season.

"We were so excited just to be out there and then to post a win over a team ranked higher than us (RMAC Coaches Poll) right now was a great feeling and gave them so much more confidence than we had going into the game," said FLC head coach Ashley Travis, who moved to 3-0 overall after taking over the program prior to the 2020 Covid-19 shortened season.

Fort Lewis (1-0 overall) finished with a 35-26 shots advantage over CSU Pueblo (1-2 overall) and had six different players score Tuesday, led by senior midfielder Ann Nelson with four goals on seven shot attempts.

The four goals tied a career-high for Nelson, who also added four ground balls and three caused turnovers on Tuesday.

"We went into the game knowing we needed to make strong moves and drive hard to the net. Ann did just that and really played a great game on both sides of the field for us," Travis said. "As a team, we did a good job of getting people open. We know on attack that we don't have just one goal scorer. What's exciting about our team is that we have multiple people who can score, are confident with the ball and can put it in the back of the net."

Sophomore midfielder Liv Crawford, junior midfielder Maren Clark, senior attacker Abby Escandon and freshman midfielder Haley Dostie all tallied two goals apiece for the Skyhawks, while freshman Ellie Martinez added a goal and an assist to help round out the FLC attack.

After playing most of the first half from behind, the Skyhawks took the lead for good at 7-6 on Dostie's first career goal with 4:45 remaining in the first half.

Fort Lewis would take an 8-7 lead into the break, and led by as many as four goals at 13-9 following a score from Crawford with 6:36 remaining, to claim the 13-11 final.

"We called a timeout (before the Dostie goal) in the first half and we just needed to gain our composure and settle down a little bit," Travis said. "We were rushing things at first and that was to be expected with some first-game jitters and us being a young team. We were able to stay more composed with the ball after that."

In net, Basso followed suit as she finished with a career-high 11 saves; stopping 10 of the final 16 shots on goal she faced Tuesday to keep the ThunderWolves' offense at bay.

"Averi started to realize where (CSU Pueblo) was shooting from and was more active in goal. I think she went out there a little timid with those first-game jitters, but then really found her groove," Travis said. "It was a standout performance from her. And our defense was able to help her out by forcing some low-angled shots."

Fort Lewis will get a few days to rest and recover before it gears up for a two-game home stand against Colorado College (1 p.m. Friday) and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (11 a.m. Sunday).

The two non-conference games will mark the first home games for the Skyhawks since April 7, 2019, and the last two tune-up games before they dive into RMAC play Saturday, March 27 on the road against Adams State University.

"These final two non-conference games before we get into RMAC play are going to be crucial as we learn more about our young team," Travis said. "After not playing a game for 300-plus days, these games will give us a chance to go against other teams' defenses and let us learn what we need to work on. Being at home, and not having coached a home game at Fort Lewis yet, I'm also excited for us to have the chance to play on our field, have fans at our games and have people cheering us on."
 
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