Sarah Krupski
The Paw Print
Adams State men’s soccer team fell to the defending NCAA Division II national champions Fort Lewis Skyhawks, at Murphy Field on Friday, bested 6-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game. In 2009, which was the first year for the ASC men’s soccer team, the Grizzlies travelled to Durango to compete against the Skyhawks and lost 9-1. Fort Lewis is currently standing 3-0 in RMAC while the Grizzlies stand 0-3 in league action. However, Fort Lewis has since been knocked out of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) top-25 preseason poll.
The Skyhawks’ coach Oige Kennedy saw improvement in the Grizzlies since 2009. “It’s tough to build a program from scratch,” he said. “I think their coach [Tim Busen] is working hard to get the right pieces in place. We were fortunate enough to create as many opportunities as we did.”
ASC defense was hammered by the Skyhawks offense who took 43 shots against the Grizzlies, compared to their three. Fort Lewis put 20 of theirs on goal compared to zero for Adams State. Freshman keepers Paul Pizza and Dillon Lee split net time. Pizza made nine saves but allowed five goals, while Lee made five saves and allowed one goal. Skyhawks redshirt freshman keeper Nate Bell recorded his second straight shutout of the season. Senior David Powers made all three shots that came on goal in the first half of the game. Powers has been moved from the Grizzlies back line to become an offensive player for ASC. He also made Grizzly history in 2009 by making the men’s soccer program’s first-ever goal in the season opener against Mesa State.
Skyhawks junior midfielder Thomas Hoang scored the first goal for Fort Lewis 14 minutes into the game, assisted by Keane Hamilton. Hoang’s goal was a 30 yard strike on the Skyhawks ninth shot of the game. Less than four minutes went by before the Skyhawks were up 2-0. Joey Madigan netted an unassisted goal against the Grizzlies; the goal was Madigan’s second goal of the season.
Freshman striker Jordan Alexander managed to put in one goal before intermission leading the contest 3-0. The Skyhawks then would score all three of their goals in the second half in a 10 minute time span. Senior defender Jamie Cunningham made his first goal of the season from a header corner kick just 3:40 into the second half. Hoang took and scored a penalty kick for his second goal of the game and third of the season. Finally, Hamilton finished the scoring when Alexander assisted him with a pass that beat two ASC defenders.
Adams State women’s soccer team traveled to Denver on Sunday to battle the Fort Lewis Skyhawks only to fall 3-1 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
The Skyhawks are on their fourth straight victory and currently at the top in the RMAC standings with 12 points, improved 8-1 and are 4-1 conference play. Adams State dropped 3-6 overall and 2-3 in league play and are currently tied for sixth place with Nebraska-Kearney and UC-Colorado in the RAMC standings.
The Skyhawks freshman forward Megan Striedel made the first goal of the match from an assist by Emma Cannis. Even though the Grizzlies were behind 1-0 at the half, freshman goal keeper Hannah Kohlts made five saves and took on 13 shots.
Despite being behind after intermission, ASC was in attack mode early in the second half but failed to record a shot off of a corner kick. Fort Lewis took seven corner kicks throughout the match made one connect to net. Erika Shisler made two assist in the game one being from a corner kick directed to Cannis for a header taking the score 2-0 lead.
Trailing behind 2-0, freshamn Kelli Williams brought Adams State back into the game and onto the board with an assist from junior Amber Drumm, going past Skyhawks’ goalie Christine Schmelzle. The nail-biter came with less than nine minutes remaining in the contest. Kohlts made her final save of the day on a shot by Skyhawks’ Shisler but was unable to manage the ball, which allowed defender Racheal Budagher to rebound and score, bringing the score to 3-1.This is the second losing streak for the Adams State women’s soccer team following a previous two-game winning streak which had placed the Grizzlies at 2-1 in RMAC play. Adams State will come home to Murphy Field on Friday Oct. 1 to host Regis.
The Rangers are 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the RMAC and lost 1-0 at New Mexico Highlands on Sunday. The Rangers have a 14-1 advantage in the all-time series against Adams State. Adams States only win against Regis came on Oct. 16, 2005.
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