Bend it like Becker.
Yannis Becker, a Fort Lewis College junior, scored two second-half goals to ignite a comeback in the Skyhawks’ 3-1 men’s soccer victory over CSU-Pueblo on Friday at Dirks Field.
FLC (8-5, 6-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) trailed for nearly 50 minutes, after Matt Marchena put the ThunderWolves up 1-0 on a counter in the 22nd minute, before Becker pulled the team level.
He dribbled around several players to find some space at the top of the 18-yard box, then tucked a shot into the bottom right corner in the 71st minute to tie the match at 1.
“It took me a while to get into the game. (FLC head coach) Oige (Kennedy) kicked me in my butt at halftime a little bit,” Becker said. “I think I woke up at halftime and stepped my game up.”
That strike ignited the crowd and the team, which had been peppering the CSU-Pueblo (3-10, 2-7 RMAC) goal the entire second half.
FLC outshot the ThunderWolves 14-4 in the second half and put 10 shots on frame after halftime.
FLC senior Cesar Castillo provided a spark for the Skyhawks down the right side, linking with Becker.
“He was one of the difference-makers that we couldn’t handle,” CSU-Pueblo head coach Roy Stanley said. “That was our downfall was this left-hand side, their right-hand side.”
Fort Lewis’ pressure down that side forced CSU-Pueblo to commit a foul on the edge of the right side of the box.
The referee originally called for a free kick, but his assistant said the foul occurred inside the box and should have been a penalty. They conferred, and a penalty was awarded to the rousing cheers of the spectators, which included the Durango High School boys soccer team.
“That was our first penalty all year; I thought it was a foul inside the box,” Kennedy said. “Regardless of that, I think we had done enough to create enough chances to win the game, anyway. I thought it was just rewards.”
Castillo put a bow on the victory with a shot from the right side of the goal in the 86th minute, with an assist from Luke Lawrence.
Stanley called off the ThunderWolves’ pressure after Castillo’s goal, wanting his players to save some energy for their next game Sunday at defending RMAC champion Regis in Denver.
“The second call is something we’ve got to respond to better,” he said.
FLC snapped a two-game losing streak with the win and grabbed a critical RMAC victory before the Skyhawks begin a brutal road stretch.
The Skyhawks will play Regis at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Denver before facing Colorado Mesa, Metro State and Colorado Mines – all on the road.
Those are four of the top five teams in the conference, along with FLC.
“We gotta win every game,” Becker said. “We’ve got five finals ahead of us.”
kgrabowski@ durangoherald.com
