The Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse team had a beautiful spring day to get a win in its home opener. However, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs had other plans as the Mountain Lions dominated and cruised to an 18-3 victory on Friday.
UCCS dominated possession by turning over the Skyhawks and dominating the draw control. FLC struggled to complete some routine passes in the midfield and could not beat its defenders one-on-one with dodging to create offensive opportunities.
“Today defense owned the show,” FLC head coach Ariannah Ritter said. “We have a very strong defense and right now it’s putting together four quarters on both sides of the ball. We both need to be on at the same time.”
FLC dropped to 1-7 overall and 0-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Skyhawks were outshot 25-17 and lost draw controls 16-8. UCCS was much more accurate with its shots and had 23 shots on goal compared to nine for FLC.
It was another blowout loss for the Skyhawks; their seven loss have come by an average of 12.4 goals.
Sophomore midfielder and former Durango Demon Victoria Barletta led the Skyhawks with two goals. Senior midfielder Diamond Velasco had a goal for FLC and senior attacker Phoebe Ramirez had an assist. Senior Caley Lay had five saves in goal.
UCCS improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the RMAC. Sarah Urbanic led the Mountain Lions with four goals and two assists.
FLC trailed 4-1 after the first quarter. The Skyhawks struck first with Velasco but UCCS responded with four goals in six minutes to take control. Ritter said the team struggles to wake up early in games but she was happy the senior leaders stepped up to hold UCCS under 20 goals.
UCCS tacked on two goals early in the second. Meghan Weiss intercepted a poor pass behind the cage for UCCS, took it the distance and scored to put UCCS up 7-1 with 8:56 left.
The Skyhawks really struggled with their fundamentals. Poor passes were thrown in the midfield that ended up on the ground. UCCS was first to the ground balls and took advantage. Emma Grace Martin scored off a Skyhawk turnover to put the Mountain Lions up 8-1 with 6:53 left in the second quarter.
“Typically, our transition works pretty well … but we were freaking out under pressure when we know we can handle it and that’s a confidence thing,” Ritter said.
FLC also struggled with penalties on defense. This led to free-shot opportunities and great looks for the Mountain Lions
UCCS continued to dominate possession with draw control and turning FLC over. A running clock started with about a minute left in the half when Sofia Watts scored from close range to put the Mountain Lions up 11-1. UCCS kept that lead at halftime.
The Skyhawks had a few great chances at their second goal but couldn’t find the back of the net early in the third quarter. Two were shot right at the goalie and another chance missed wide.
FLC did a better job of defending in the third quarter. It closed the gaps and didn’t let UCCS penetrate toward goal. The help defense was there and it forced a lot of poor UCCS passes.
The problem for FLC was they had too many careless turnovers that stopped any defensive momentum. UCCS led 13-1 after three quarters after a quarter of running clock.
UCCS continued to dominate possession in the fourth quarter as FLC struggled to string together passes.
FLC scored its second goal of the game off a nice play by Victoria Barletta. She beat her defender and finished inside to cut the deficit to 15-2 with eight minutes left. Barletta found another goal off a turnover with 3:47 left and UCCS responded with the final two goals of the game.
The Skyhawks play again at home on Sunday against Division II’s No. 17 ranked team in Regis at 1 p.m.
“It’s a tough conference, that’s why I scheduled tough games before conference play to get us ready for it,” Ritter said. “I see a lot of great little moments but those moments need to add up. We have incredible practices but we need to convert that to gameplay mode.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
