DURANGO, Colo. — Sophomore midfielder Dawson Emrich scored his first collegiate goal to lift No. 3 Fort Lewis (8-0-0 overall, 4-0-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) to a 1-0 win over UC-Colorado Springs (5-4-0, 3-2-0) today in a spirited and physical match at Dirks Field.

“It was a little bit closer than we wanted,” said third-year FLC men’s soccer coach Oige Kennedy. “That’s our fourth game in eight days and it’s starting to take its toll. I thought we looked tired in the first half, but got better as the game went on. We weren’t passing the ball the way we normally like.”

Kennedy used just 14 players in the game and, ironically, it was the three who came off the bench who factored into the game’s lone goal. Sophomore forwards Casey Dean and Jordan Alexander — who replaced starting forwards Thomas Hoang and Derek Freeman late in the first half — played give-and-go to get the ball into the UCCS box. Dean slid a pass to the right side that Emrich collected, made one touch, and lifted a high, arching shot to the far post that UCCS goalkeeper Brandon Costa had no chance to stop. The goal came with just 2:36 remaining in the first half.

“What a goal it was as well,” said Kennedy. “It was a great finish and with his left foot, as well. I’m really happy for Dawson. He’s working really hard and got his opportunity today and scored his first goal.”

The Skyhawk skipper also singled out the play of one of his senior leaders.

“Cory Dean was really good today as well, closing things down and defending,” said Kennedy. “Right up until the last couple of minutes, Cory was making runs on the offensive end.”

The Skyhawks nearly took a 2-0 lead early in the second stanza on a corner kick. Alberto Capdepon-Rodriguez floated a corner from the left side that Fabian Kling headed solidly toward the goal. A backpedaling Costa punched the header over the crossbar.

The Mountain Lions’ best chance game in the 34th minute when Keenan Forder’s header hit the crossbar.

Shots were relatively even, with the Skyhawks owning a slight 11-9 advantage. Shots on goal favored Fort Lewis 7-2.

FLC’s Ryan Wirth needed to make just a pair of pedestrian saves during the match to record his sixth shutout of the season.

Twenty-two fouls were called in the game, 11 per team. UCCS players were issued three yellow cards.

After playing seven of its first eight contests at home, the Skyhawks hit the road for a pair of games next weekend. FLC travels to No. 11 Colorado Mines (6-1-0, 4-0-0) for a 7 p.m. tilt Friday and to Colorado Christian (0-8-1, 0-5-0) for a 1 p.m. game next Sunday.

Fort Lewis previously defeated Colorado Mines 2-1 in a nonconference meeting at Dirks Field on Sept. 11. The Orediggers were picked by RMAC coaches to successfully defend their league title this season.

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