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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Ciaran Feeney 9.24
Angela Roberts, FLC Athletic Communications
FLC sophomore Ciaran Feeney (#17) had as assist on Friday's game-winning goal against No. 16 Colorado Mesa (File Photo).
2
Winner Fort Lewis FLC (3-2-1, 0-0-0)
1
Colorado Mesa CMU (6-2-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Fort Lewis FLC
(3-2-1, 0-0-0)
2
Final
1
Colorado Mesa CMU
(6-2-0, 0-0-0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Fort Lewis FLC 1 1 2
Colorado Mesa CMU 1 0 1

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

Skyhawks rally for 2-1 road win over No. 16 Colorado Mesa

iGRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The Fort Lewis College men's soccer team earned its first road win of 2021 in style, overcoming an early 1-0 deficit to upend No. 16 Colorado Mesa University, 2-1, on Friday under the lights at Maverick Field.

Friday's game marked the 25th matchup between the two rivals, while the statement win moved the Skyhawks (3-2-1 overall) to 13-7-5 in the series and to 9-3-1 all-time against the Mavericks (6-2-0 overall) out in Grand Junction.

"In general, that was just a really good college soccer game," said FLC head men's soccer coach, David Oberholtzer. "I thought out guys played very well. We had great ideas and moves forward, we played well, defensively, and it was just a great, gritty team performance."

Fort Lewis displayed that grittiness early on as Colorado Mesa drew first blood, capitalizing on a penalty kick opportunity at the 16:59 mark of the first half scored by Gabriel Peres.

The Skyhawks were able to shake off the early deficit and net the equalizer in the 37th minute when sophomore Matt Baldridge found paydirt for his second goal of the season.

"I thought our response after giving up that early goal was fantastic," Oberholtzer said. "Two weekends ago, when we were at Colorado School of Mines, we conceded an early goal and were pretty deflated for the rest of the game and had a hard time rebounding. I thought (Friday) showed a lot of growth."

The goal from Baldridge was set up by a free kick opportunity for junior midfielder Andres Hernandez, who struck a hard shot that forced a diving save from CMU goalkeeper, Connor Durant. The loose ball was pounced on by freshman defenseman Maximilian Meier, who then fed a cross in front for Baldridge to tap home.

"It was a really good strike by Andres to make the keeper have to make a save. Then we talk as a team about wanting to capitalize on tap-in goals and part of that is making sure you're reacting quickly," Oberholtzer said. "Max put himself in a good spot to get there first and put a really good pass across for Matt to be there to finish it."

FLC would ride that momentum into the second half, taking the lead for good in the 61st minute courtesy of a gorgeous connection between sophomore Ciaran Feeney and freshman Gabriel Legendre.

Advancing the ball from the right-back position, and just inside midfield, Feeney lofted a perfect cross into the box for Legendre, who was able to angle a header top-shelf past Durant to put the Skyhawks up 2-1.

Durant entered the evening with two goals allowed all season and as the RMAC leader in saves (20).

"It was a great service from distance, as well as a great run and great finish by Gabe. Just a super goal in general," Oberholtzer said. "We've asked the guys to be a little more willing to serve the ball earlier as opposed to looking for a perfect look and that's exactly what Ciaran did. He found himself in space in the attacking half and put in a great ball."

Defensively, the Skyhawks were able to keep the Mavericks on the outside, with just nine of their 18 shots making their way on goal.

Senior goalkeeper Peter Byrne stopped a season-high seven of the eight shots he faced en route to picking up the win on the heels of a 2-0 shutout the Skyhawks' keeper notched last Friday against Adams State University.

"I thought Pete was fantastic and that was his best game so far this season," Oberholtzer said. "We needed him to be big and he kept us in the game. With Mesa pushing at the end, chasing the game a bit, he was extremely solid back there for us and that's to be expected."

Fort Lewis will look to build off Friday's momentum when it concludes the weekend, and the non-conference portion of its scheduled, at 2:30 p.m. Friday back home at Dirks Field against Westminster College (2-5 overall).

"It's going to be great to be back home and we know that Westminster is a strong opponent," Oberholtzer said. "We wanted to go into this weekend and get some good momentum going before we open RMAC play. Sunday's game is the next step in accomplishing that. We need to make sure we come out and put a similar, consistent performance together."
 
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