DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College women's lacrosse team scored a season-high eight goals but was unable to complete a comeback in a 12-8 loss to CSU Pueblo in its home opener.
Fort Lewis dropped to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play, while CSU Pueblo improved to 3-3, 1-0 RMAC.
The teams finished with 23 shots apiece, though CSU Pueblo placed 21 on goal. Both teams committed 32 turnovers, while the Skyhawks held a slight 31-29 advantage in ground balls.
Defensively, senior Samantha Rodgers led the team with nine ground balls and eight caused turnovers. Her eight caused turnovers set a new program record, surpassing her previous mark of seven, which she had recorded on two occasions. Senior Diamond Velasco led all players with four goals, while four additional Skyhawks scored one goal each. Junior goalkeeper Olivia Tilbury recorded nine saves.
The game began with a goal from freshman Kelcie Bolling at the 12:39 mark, assisted by senior Valerie Garcia. CSU Pueblo answered within the next minute to tie the game and took the lead 30 seconds later. A green card on the Skyhawks gave the Pack a player advantage, which they converted into another goal before a timeout with 8:57 remaining in the quarter. CSU Pueblo added two more scores to take a 5-1 lead after the opening period.
Defense kept the game scoreless through the first four minutes of the second quarter before a turnover led to CSU Pueblo's sixth goal. The next six minutes remained scoreless until junior Rilee Powless found the net at the 4:13 mark to end the Fort Lewis scoring drought. Tilbury added a save late in the quarter to keep the score at 6-2 heading into halftime.
Fort Lewis began to close the gap in the third quarter, starting with a ground ball from Rodgers that led to a Velasco goal. Rodgers and senior Marla Warrior combined for a pair of caused turnovers to stall the Pack's offense, but another turnover resulted in a CSU Pueblo goal. The Skyhawks responded with three late scores—from Garcia, Velasco, and freshman Jasmine Nguyen—to cut the deficit to three goals entering the fourth quarter.
Despite the momentum, CSU Pueblo opened the fourth quarter with three straight goals in the first three minutes to extend its lead to 12-6. Velasco scored again at the 9:34 mark, and after nine minutes of scoreless play, added another late goal to make it 12-8. The final minute featured a shot from Nguyen and a ground ball by Rodgers.
Fort Lewis (0-3, 0-1 RMAC) returns to the road next week with games against UCCS and Regis University in Colorado Springs and Denver, respectively.
