SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Fort Lewis lacrosse team came out fast enough to chase the starting goalie for Westminster College on Thursday, but the home team responded in front of their backup and a late Skyhawks rally fell just short in a 21-17 loss in Salt Lake City.
It was the first conference loss of the year for the Skyhawks (2-2, 1-1 RMAC), who fell victim to a Westminster (1-3, 1-1 RMAC) team that scored eight more goals than any other Fort Lewis opponent has this year.
"It was a really high scoring game, and very back and forth," Skyhawks Coach Ashley Travis said.
It certainly didn't shape up to be a close contest in the early going, as the red-hot Skyhawks came out firing, and looked every bit like the team that cruised to a 25-1 win at Adams State on Saturday.
Abby Escandon got things going for the Skyhawks early when she put them up 1-0 on a free position shot. Fort Lewis would get another goal on a free position play from Ann Nelson moments later to take a 2-0 lead, but Westminster quickly responded to keep it within a score.
Back to back goals by Caprietta Abbadessa and another tally from Escandon put the Skyhawks up 5-1, however, and it looked like the rout might be on.
"I do think we came out really strong in the first five or ten minutes," Travis nodded.
Westminster would get a goal to keep it from getting out of reach, but after a five minute scoring drought for both teams, Nelson found the back of the cage again to push the Skyhawks' lead back to four at 6-2.
That was just past the midpoint of the first half and Fort Lewis appeared to be in control, but Westminster opted for a change at goalie and it provided the spark the home team needed. The Griffins responded by rolling off six of the game's next seven goals to close out the half with an 8-7 lead.
"They switched the goalie, and we had to change our game up a little bit," Travis said, noting that the team had prepared all week to beat a left-handed goalie down low. It turned out the Griffins' backup, a righty, was more vulnerable in the top half of the goal, but it took Fort Lewis awhile to solve her.
"We had to basically reverse our shots," Travis explained.
Westminster also started to click offensively after the change in the cage, and Travis gave them credit for their offensive execution. The Griffins produced assists on three of the six goals they scored to take the halftime lead, and would log 10 helpers on the day to only two for Fort Lewis.
"They're just a really good cutting team. They scored most of their goals off of cuts," Travis reported.
Maren Clark had netted the Skyhawks only goal in the midst of Westminster's rally to close out the first half, and she tried to make sure the rally died completely during the break by collecting her second tally in the opening moments of the second half to tie the game at 8-8.
Westminster wasn't about to let go of the momentum that easily on their home field, however, and they potted two quick scores to hold on to their advantage.
Fort Lewis was able to keep the pressure on the Griffins with a pair of quick goals from Ellie Martinez five minutes later to knot the game again at 10-10, but Westminster responded seconds later to jump back on top. They would add two more goals over the next two minutes to regain a three score advantage, and that would prove to be the lead the Skyhawks couldn't overcome.
Fort Lewis would rally to within a point a number of times, as Escandon scored two unanswered to bring the Skyhawks close at 15-16. She logged her fifth goal of the game with just under five minutes remaining to make it 16-17.
"Abby just had a day," Travis said. "She was being overplayed and she just took advantage of it. She felt them on her hip and just went the other way. She really has a super high lacrosse IQ."
Unfortunately, Escandon's heroics weren't enough, as Westminster answered with two quick tallies to regain their three goal advantage. The Griffins would add a couple of garbage goals in the final minute to close out the win in Salt Lake City.
Fort Lewis would finish the game with an edge in shots (40-35), free position shots (14-8) and ground balls (41-34). They also took better care of the ball than their opponents, demonstrating more efficiency on clears (11-14) than the Griffins (14-22) and committing only 14 turnovers, as compared to 23 by Westminster.
"We were having really good drives, and they were fouling us a lot. We need to work on our free position shots," Travis said after the squad converted on only five of their 14 chances on free position plays.
While the Skyhawks were able to maintain control of the ball when they had it, one of the few statistical categories they did not hold an advantage in was draw controls. The home team won 21 draws to only 14 for Fort Lewis, and Travis acknowledged that may have been the difference in the contest.
"We were struggling with the draw today, and that was a huge part of the game," she reasoned.
Travis said her team would use the contest as a learning experience, and be ready to return the favor when the Griffins visit Durango on April 23.
"We've got them at home next time, and we know what to be prepared for," she said.
But Fort Lewis will have to put any thoughts of revenge aside to attend to more immediate business, as the 25th-ranked Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will meet the Skyhawks at Ray Dennison Field at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
After a long Thursday night bus ride home from Salt Lake, it will be a short turnaround for Fort Lewis, but their coach isn't too worried about her team finding the motivation — or the energy — to take on the team from Grand Junction.
"We're super-excited to play that one," Travis smiled. "We want that win bad. They are a top 25 team in the nation, and we will be super solid if we can knock them out of that spot. Plus they're our rivals, so I think the girls will be hungry for a win."
