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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Liv Crawford 3.21
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC sophomore Liv Crawford (#4) scored a goal and added an assist in Sunday's 13-12 loss to UCCS.
13
Winner UCCS UCCS 3-0
12
FLC FLC 1-1
Winner
UCCS UCCS
3-0
13
Final
12
FLC FLC
1-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UCCS UCCS 9 4 13
FLC FLC 7 5 12

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

Skyhawks' comeback attempt falls just shy to UCCS in Sunday's home opener

DURANGO, Colorado — Trailing by as many as four goals early in the second half, the Fort Lewis College women's lacrosse team had a valiant comeback attempt come up just shy in its home opener Sunday, falling by a 13-12 final in a non-conference matchup against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Fort Lewis (1-1 overall) pulled within one with 1:44 remaining on the four goal of the game from senior Ann Nelson, but the visiting Mountain Lions (3-0 overall) were able to bleed all but six seconds off the clock on their next possession, making it next to impossible for the Skyhawks to get upfield and get a shot off over the final six seconds.

"We played tough and came up just a little bit short. To come back from four goals down I was really proud of these ladies for competing against another good team in the RMAC that was picked ahead of us," said FLC head women's lacrosse coach Ashley Travis, referencing UCCS being picked No. 3 in the RMAC Coaches' Preseason Poll. "We pressured out on the ball (last UCCS possession) and tried to get it back, but credit to UCCS for being a good offensive team and possessing the ball. Six seconds is really tough to score a goal."

The two RMAC foes played each other evenly, with UCCS finishing with a 29-24 shots on goal advantage and FLC winning the ground ball race, 27-23. But the needle leaned UCCS' favor in the fast break department as it was 19-for-21 on clear attempts and was able to capitalize in odd-man rush situations.

"The difference maker was their fast break," Travis said of the Mountain Lions. "I don't think we gave up too many goals in a settled attack, but (UCCS) was fast and took advantage. I think we know what we need to do next time we play them in conference play, but that was the big difference in the game today."

FLC sophomore goalkeeper Averi Basso helped keep the Skyhawks within striking distance as she posted a career-high 16 saves on 29 shots against. She currently leads the RMAC in saves per game (13.50) through the season's first two games.

"For her to have upwards of almost 20 saves is incredible and another stand out performance from Averi," Travis said. "She was not afraid of the ball and we talked before the game that UCCS is a team that will fire a lot of shots when they get their hands free. She was ready for them and if it wasn't for her performance there'd have been a lot of more goals scored."

Trailing 11-7 at the 27:53 mark of the second half, the Skyhawks went on a 4-1 run over the next 14 minutes, receiving goals from Nelson, freshman midfielder Caprietta Abbadessa, junior Maren Clark and senior Abby Escandon to pull within one at 12-11.

"I called timeout and reminded the girls we needed to be composed and take our time with the ball, use the shot clock and make smart passes," Travis said. "I think we may have had some home opener jitters, everyone's family there and having fans at our game for the first time. After we had that little timeout, we settled down and played our attacking game."

Fort Lewis had seven different players score a goal Sunday, led by Nelson's four, two from Clark and the first two goals of Abbadessa's young career.

"She told me before the game was her goal was to be more of an offensive threat and she certainly did that," Travis said of Abbadessa. "She was great in transition for us, she was fearless and she knew where she needed to shoot. For a freshman to score two goals against a good team like UCCS was great to see and we're looking forward to how she grows this spring."

Sophomore attacker Liv Crawford, sophomore midfielder Makena Carter and freshman attacker Nina Polk all collected a goal apiece Sunday, as well, to round out the FLC scoring.

Fort Lewis will now turn its attention toward its first official RMAC conference in game since 2019 when it heads back on the road next Saturday to take on Adams State University. Game time is scheduled for 12 p.m. in Alamosa.

"We're super excited to start conference play and we've seen what we're capable of through these first two games against teams picked higher than us," Travis said. "That's something these girls have looked forward to for almost two years now; to show the conference what we're about and what our new style of play is about. We're ready to climb the ladder."
 
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