The 2024 postseason has been very similar to the 2023 postseason for the Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team. The big difference could be what happens when the No. 6 seed Skyhawks face off against No. 2 seed Midwestern State in the third round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Tournament tomorrow.
Last season, the Skyhawks made it to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament championship game and lost to CSU Pueblo 2-0 at home. This season, FLC made it to the RMAC tournament championship game and lost 2-1 on the road.
Despite getting a different seed than last year, FLC still matched up with UCCS in its first game of the NCAA tournament. The Skyhawks beat UCCS 3-2 in the NCAA tournament last year and beat the Mountain Lions 4-2 last Sunday.
Now, the Skyhawks rematch against Midwestern State after losing to the Mustangs 2-1 in the second round last year of the NCAA tournament. Like last year, the game tomorrow will be at Midwestern State in Wichita Falls, Texas.
“We feel good,” FLC men’s soccer head coach David Oberholtzer said. “We're excited about the opportunity. Everybody's healthy, the guys are in good spirits and it’s a really unified group. Excited about another opportunity to advance and to kind of get some redemption from last year getting knocked out.”
Last season, FLC was the No. 8 seed and Midwestern State was the No. 1 seed in the region.
Midwestern State got on the board early last year with a goal by Jack Larkin in the 10th minute and the Mustangs took that 1-0 lead into halftime. Midwestern State’s Max Gonzales scored in the 62nd minute to make it 2-0 before FLC’s Anton Hjalmarsson scored to make it 2-1 in the 66th minute.
The Mustangs outshot the Skyhawks 21-9 and had a 9-2 shots on goal advantage.
This year, Midwestern State is 15-2-3 overall and finished second in the Lone Star Conference. Both teams beat St. Mary’s University, West Texas A&M, MSU Denver and Lubbock Christian this year. Midwestern State also lost to West Texas A&M.
“We felt good about last year,” Oberholtzer said. “We know it's going to be a tough game and it was a tough game last year, but we were right there in it. I don't think it's going to be any different in terms of being a challenge for us. We've had that experience now and it's a mature, experienced group. We believe in the group.”
Midwestern State is led by fifth-year forward Mere Escobar. He leads the team with 16 goals and 10 assists for 42 points. As a team, the Mustangs average 2.3 goals per game and allow 1.2 goals per game.
Oberholtzer is confident in his group’s abilities against Escobar and the Mustangs. He said if the Skyhawks focus on themselves, they’ll be fine. Oberholtzer acknowledged that Escobar is a good player but FLC has enough players for Midwestern State to be worried about.
“They're an organized, hardworking team, but when we can counter and put them under some pressure, it's a situation that they're probably not necessarily used to because they're a team that wants to have the ball,” Oberholtzer said. “So if we can keep the ball and force them to defend for long spells, it'll make them uncomfortable. If we can be really solid as a group, defensively on our own, then we can force them to get impatient, force some things and create some turnovers in good areas where we can counter quickly.”
The game starts at 2 p.m. MST and can be watched for free if fans create an account on FloCollege. Skyhawks fans in Durango can watch the game at Taco Libre or at Soaps ‘N Suds Tavern.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
