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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Loic Jean-Baptiste 3.28
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC redshirt junior Loic Jean-Baptiste (#10) assisted on the Skyhawks' goal Sunday in a 1-1 tie against CSU Pueblo.
1
CSU Pueblo CSUP (3-0-1, 1-0-1)
1
Fort Lewis FLC (2-0-1, 1-0-1)
CSU Pueblo CSUP
(3-0-1, 1-0-1)
1
Final
1
Fort Lewis FLC
(2-0-1, 1-0-1)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 OT 2 F
CSU Pueblo CSUP 1 0 0 0 1
Fort Lewis FLC 0 1 0 0 1

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

Skyhawks and ThunderWolves play to 1-1 draw in battle of unbeatens

DURANGO, Colorado — A mild Sunday afternoon at Dirks Field provided the setting for a battle of unbeatens when the Fort Lewis College men's soccer team hosted Colorado State University Pueblo.

Fittingly, the two RMAC powers played each other to a 1-1 draw in front of a spirited group of FLC fans taking in the Skyhawks' first home game in 511 days.

"I thought a draw was fair," said FLC head men's soccer coach, David Oberholtzer. "I thought we started really flat and we know CSU Pueblo is a team that can score goals. Unfortunately, we weren't ready for it in the first half. But credit the guys for battling and reacting better in the second half and in the overtimes. I thought each team had its chances to win the game, so it was a fair result for a well-fought match."

CSU Pueblo (4-0-1 overall, 2-0-1 RMAC), the highest scoring team in the conference through four games with 16 goals, drew first blood at the 41:25 mark of the first half when Dominik Huetgens connected on a cross to Joe O'Sullivan, who buried the goal less than four minutes into the contest.

The ThunderWolves tallied eight of their 19 shots in the first half as the Skyhawks (2-0-1 overall, 2-0-1 RMAC) slowly but surely found their footing.

Fort Lewis would net the equalizer in the 79th minute when senior midfielder Brantley Bice scored his first goal of 2021 off an assist from redshirt junior forward Loic Jean-Baptiste.

As a team, the Skyhawks out-shot the ThunderWolves, 8-5, in the second half and looked more like the FLC team that opened 2021 with victories against Westminster College and Colorado Christian.

"I thought we were quicker to react and started winning second balls, challenges out of the air in that second half. That started to turn the tide in our favor once we started winning some of those battles," Oberholtzer said. "Loic was out wide and was able to muscle his way past a couple players and put a great ball into the box for Brantley. It was a really composed finish."

Each team took its turn dominating the overtime periods, with CSU Pueblo posting a 5-2 shots advantage in the first OT, while the Skyhawks applied the pressure over the final 10 minutes with a 3-1 shots advantage.

In net, redshirt junior goalkeeper Peter Byrne stopped a season-high six shots, helping anchor a FLC defensive unit that has held opponents to just two goals through three games this season.

"That's a credit to our back line and team in general of not allowing other teams to get dangerous on us very often," Oberholtzer said. "CSU Pueblo is the highest scoring team in the conference right now, so to hold them to one goal was positive. Peter made a couple good saves and I think we always know he is going to be good. He's super consistent and that's why the rest of the group is able to trust him and feel confident with him back there."

The Skyhawks will look to build off Sunday's positives when they host No. 14 Colorado School of Mines at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

Fort Lewis will be back in the friendly confines of Dirks Field, which was able to host up to 175 spectators on Sunday with La Plata County currently at Level Yellow on the state's Covid-19 Dial.

"There's no place like Dirks, especially with the fans. It was great; we even had a little mini alumni reunion weekend with quite a few alums able to make the trip back," Oberholtzer said. "It was awesome to get back, hear the fans and they certainly helped us get out from under that poor first half. With the condensed schedule, we have fewer opportunities to play and to play on Dirks. To be back here Thursday against another tough opponent like Mines is exciting. We'll be up for the challenge."
 
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