DURANGO, Colo. — Joey Madigan scored a goal and added two assists as No. 3 Fort Lewis (18-1-0 overall) rallied for a 3-1 win over Colorado Mines (11-7-1) today in the semifinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s soccer championships at Dirks Field.

“I thought we played well in the first half and possessed it well, but really didn’t move it quick enough,” said third-year FLC head coach Oige Kennedy. “In the second half that’s the only thing that changed.”

Kennedy said that Madigan’s play was a big difference in the game. “Every time the ball came to him in the second half, he was immense,” said Kennedy.

The Orediggers and Skyhawks played a level first half, with CSM owning a 4-3 edge in shots (2-0 in shots on goal) at halftime. The Orediggers struck early in the second stanza, with Philip Wilson burying a rebound in front of FLC’s goal just 2:13 into the half. Wilson collected the rebound of the initial shot by Baski Baker to net his seventh marker of the season.

It didn’t take long, though, for the Skyhawks to put pressure on Mines. Alberto Capdepon-Rodriguez was stopped by Manville Strand in the 50th minute. Two minutes later, he floated a corner kick into the middle of the box and Berekk Blackwell’s header clanged off the crossbar.

Madigan got the equalizer at 58:00 when Capdepon-Rodriguez lined up for a 35-yard free kick. Instead of striking it at the goal, he instead played a ball to the right side, where Madigan ran onto it, made one touch, then sent a shot inside the far post for his sixth goal of the season.

It didn’t take long for the Skyhawks to take control of the match from that point. Just 3:28 later, Madigan streaked down the left flank and played a pass back toward the top of the box, where Thomas Hoang collected it and sent a low shot past a diving Strandt for what proved to be the game-winner. The strike was Hoang’s sixth of the season.

Fort Lewis nearly took a 3-1 lead just 1:29 later when Capdepon-Rodriguez headed a ball past Strand of a cross, but the Skyhawks were ruled offsides.

Ben Thomson relieved Strand in the 67th minute, but fared little better. Capdepon-Rodriguez beat him with a blast into the middle of the net from 25 yards out at 71:15 to add insurance after Madigan played a ball from the right side to the top of the box that ricocheted off a CSM defender to Capdepon-Rodriguez.

Two other Skyhawks who played key roles were defender Fabian Kling and forward Kosta Kordistos — both of whom returned from knee injuries that kept them out of the lineup for much of the season.

“Fabian looked like he hadn’t missed a beat,” Kennedy said of the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year who had missed the past seven games.

Kosta, too,” he said of the reserve forward who missed 13 games before returning last Sunday to score twice in FLC’s 3-1 win at Adams State.

Wilson nearly trimmed the margin in half in the 76th minute, but Kling headed the ball away on the goal line after Wilson’s shot had eluded FLC goalkeeper Ryan Wirth.

Fort Lewis outshot the Orediggers 14-11 on the day, but Mines enjoyed a 7-5 margin in shots on target.

Wirth, who was named the RMAC Men’s Athlete of the Month for October earlier in the day, made five saves for FLC. Strand and Thomson each had one save for the Orediggers.

In today’s first semifinal, Brenden Hughes scored in the 61st minute to lead No. 21 Metro State (14-5-1) to a 1-0 win over No. 13 Regis (13-4-1). Hughes headed a cross from the right side off the foot of Mar Herschberger for the game’s only goal.

The first game saw the Roadrunners own a huge possession advantage for most of the first half, but the Rangers had the better scoring chances with their countering attack. Ironically, Hughes’ goal for Metro State came off a counter.

Shots were relatively even, with Metro enjoying a 22-21 edge overall. Shots on goal were even at 10-10.

Shailer Thomas was active for the Roadrunners in goal, making 10 saves and breaking up several Regis scoring chances by interception passes and knocking down corner kick attempts.

Ben Sabados stopped nine shots for Regis.

Fort Lewis and Metro State will meet at 1 p.m. (MST) Sunday at Dirks Field in the RMAC postseason championship game. The two teams split in the regular season, each winning 1-0 on the other team’s pitch.