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Haley Dostie 4.23
Haley Dostie scored four goals in Friday's 13-12 victory over Westminster College (File Photo).

Second-half rally lifts Skyhawks to 13-12 victory over Westminster

4/23/2021 4:36:00 PM

By: David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications
Box Score DURANGO, Colorado — Kicking off a crucial four-game sprint to the end of the regular season, and with playoff implications on the line, the Fort Lewis College women's lacrosse team used a huge second-half effort to grind out a 13-12 victory Friday against Westminster College.

Fort Lewis (3-5 overall, 2-4 RMAC) began the day chasing Westminster College (3-6 overall, 3-4 RMAC) for the fourth and final playoff spot in the RMAC Tournament.

"This win was huge for us to get knowing this was the first game in our playoff push," said FLC head women's lacrosse coach Ashley Travis. FLC has pulled into a tie for fifth in the standings with CSU Pueblo; a team the Skyhawks will see in Durango next Friday. "To win that game was huge for us and gives the girls a ton of confidence heading into these last few games for us."

Friday's bout got off to a rocky start as the Griffins jumped out to an 8-3 with 8:05 remaining in the first half. The shots were even between the two teams at 22 apiece, but some unfortunate pings off the post for the Skyhawks contributed to the early deficit.

"We were getting a little unlucky with some of our shots, hitting the posts. We were getting the ball off a lot of draws, but just struggling to place it around the goalie," Travis said. "I think once we figured out where to put shots on her, we started scoring some goals and played a lot more collected on attack."

Fort Lewis was able to chip the deficit to 8-5 at the half on goals from senior Ann Nelson and freshman Haley Dostie.

Dostie then caught fire to begin the final 30 minutes of play, scoring back-to-back goals at the 28:13 and 27:18 marks of the second half, then pulled the Skyhawks back within one at 9-8 with her fourth game of the game with 21:51 remaining.

"We're seeing such great things from Dostie as a freshman and she was really seeing the goal well (Friday)," Travis said. "We saw some things in the first half as a coaching staff, made some adjustments, and Haley really responded. She got our roll going."

The Skyhawks pulled even again at 10-10 on Nelson's second goal of the game and took their first lead of the game at 11-10 on the first of two goals from senior attacker Abby Escandon.

After the Griffins briefly tied the game again at 11-11, sophomore Liv Crawford and Escandon — her team-leading 19th goal of the season — responded with scores just 31 seconds apart to put FLC back on top for good at 13-11 with 7:37 remaining.

Fort Lewis had to sweat out a late free position for Griffins' leading goal scorer Eden Freiberg, who led all scorers Friday with five goals. The Skyhawks' defense responded and sophomore goalkeeper Averi Basso calmly made her eighth and final save of the game with 1:01 remaining to put the bow on the 13-12 victory.

"I thought our defense played lights out and really kept us in that game. On that last free position, we knew that (Freiberg) likes to wind up and shoot so we told our defenders they needed to get in there off the hashes to slow down that ball for Averi," Travis said. "It was a huge, clutch save from Averi and a great clear from her to get it down to our attacking end. Then we were smart with the ball and able to finish out the game."

Junior midfielder Maren Clark added two goals, joining Nelson and Crawford with two apiece, while Escandon scored three and Dostie tied her career-high with four goals to pace the FLC offense.

Nelson added a team-high five ground balls, while her and Clark paced FLC with six draw controls apiece.

As a team, Fort Lewis finished with a 39-31 shots advantage — 17-9 in the second half — while winning draw controls 17-10 and finishing an efficient 13-for-18 on clear attempts.
They'll look to build off Friday's performance when the team heads on the road this weekend to square off against No. 24 ranked Colorado Mesa University, scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at Maverick Field.

Fort Lewis hung tough with the nationally ranked Mavericks in the first meeting between the two teams on April 3, scoring the game's first six goals in a 19-11 loss in Durango.
"Going into Mesa, we know what they like to do. We saw them at home and saw what we can do against them," Travis said. "I think (Friday) we learned that we're not just a first-half team and that we can play a full game. That was something we needed to learn and I think that momentum will go far heading into this game with Mesa. The girls are hungry to upset someone and we're ready for this game."
 
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