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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Katie Dunbabin 3.7
Bailey Zobel, CMU Athletics
FLC sophomore Katherine Dunbabin dives to make a save during Sunday's 1-1 tie against Colorado Mesa (Courtesy Photo).
1
Fort Lewis FLC (0-0-1, 0-0-0)
1
Colorado Mesa CMU (0-1-1, 0-0-0)
Fort Lewis FLC
(0-0-1, 0-0-0)
1
Final
1
Colorado Mesa CMU
(0-1-1, 0-0-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 OT 2 F
Fort Lewis FLC 1 0 0 0 1
Colorado Mesa CMU 0 1 0 0 1

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

Skyhawks open 2021 spring season with 1-1 road draw against Colorado Mesa

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado — The wait was finally over for the Fort Lewis College women's soccer team, which opened its 2021 spring season on Sunday — the first regular season game for the Skyhawks in 485 days — with a 1-1 draw on the road against Colorado Mesa University.

Fort Lewis (0-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 RMAC) nearly left Grand Junction with the victory, holding a 1-0 advantage late into the second half until Colorado Mesa (0-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 RMAC) netted the equalizer with 2:15 remaining in regulation.

"In a certain sense, we're happy we were able to go on the road and get results. But you could tell we were a little tired from Friday night's exhibition against Western Colorado," said FLC head women's soccer coach, Damian Clarke. "Fitness is what I could tell we were lacking late in the game. We're still getting fit and I thought CMU did a very good job of making us chase the ball and took advantage of the fact our legs got a little heavy."

The tired legs were to be expected for the Skyhawks, who have been limited in their on-field practice time due to multiple snow flurries in Durango in the months and weeks leading up to the spring season.

Colorado Mesa finished the game with a 21-6 shot advantage, 8-2 in shots on goal, but were limited to just the one tally by a FLC defense anchored by sophomore goalkeeper, Katherine Dunbabin.

"Tactically, we're still working on how we want to operate and possess the ball. I thought CMU was a little bit further ahead of us when it came to passing patterns and some of the things that let them control possession and where the game was played," Clarke said. "But there was a ton of things we learned from this game."

Dunbabin, an All-RMAC Honorable Mention selection as a freshman, was in mid-season form Sunday, finishing with seven saves; five of which came in the second half as CMU pressured to tie and try for the lead.

"Katie is phenomenal and she's a kid who is going to win you games at times and she came really close to winning us that game," Clarke said. "It's obvious that she is a different level than a lot of goalkeepers in the conference."

The Skyhawks put them in position to steal the road win nearing the end of the first half. Senior forward Corinne Sanderson pounced on a turnover by the Mavericks in their defensive zone, fed freshman Aubrey Swindle, who then buried her first career goal into the bottom-left corner of the net at the 37:42 mark.

The score for Swindle, a highly-touted freshman out of Las Cruces, New Mexico, epitomized a more aggressive, opportunistic style of the play the Skyhawks want to showcase in 2021.

"For a freshman kid to score her first goal in her first official game is special. The way the ball was turned over; those are the types of things we're trying to get the kids to grow at and that's winning tackles and using pressure to create opportunities," Clarke said. "I think that goal was an example of the direction we're trying to go and a huge confidence boost for Swindle moving forward."

Fort Lewis will look to build off Sunday's performance, and take advantage of the beautiful spring weather anticipated in Durango next week, when it takes on Westminster College at 1 p.m. Friday in the Skyhawks' home opener.
 
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