DURANGO, Colo. — Sara Egbom scored in the 37th minute as Fort Lewis (15-2-4 overall) defeated No. 16 Regis (15-5-0) 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA Division II women's soccer playoffs today at Dirks Field.

Egbom one-timed a pass from Megan Striedel in the middle of the box past Nicole Eddings for the game’s only goal at 36:33. The marker was her third of the season.

“Egbom’s goal was absolutely beautiful,” said fifth-year FLC head coach Damian Clarke. “She was fantastic today.”

Fort Lewis, which fell 1-0 to Regis on Oct. 30 to lose the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title to the Rangers on the final day of the regular season, dominated play at both ends today. The Skyhawks outshot the Rangers 25-10 overall and 11-3 in shots on target.

“It always helps when you play your best games at the end of the season,” said Clarke. “Even though we haven’t gotten results out of our last three games, per se, I thought we’ve been playing really well. We put things together and earned the result today.”

The Skyhawk coach said the key was the play of his midfielders — Egbom, Striedel, Elena Benavides and Jane Barden — helped his side control possession.

“Obviously, intelligence and great pass selection allows us to keep the ball that way,” he said. “At the same time, the ball-winning in the midfield was fantastic. Everyone in the midfield was winning balls or getting toes on things to allow us to keep possession or at least force them to have a difficult time.”

Amanda Raso made three saves for the Skyhawks to record her fourth shutout of the season.

Eddings made 10 saves for Regis.

The win allows the Skyhawks to face familiar foe Colorado Mines (16-2-3) next Friday in the Central Region championship game in Golden (kickoff time is still to be determined). The No. 8 Orediggers scored in the final minute of the second overtime to beat No. 21 Minnesota State 1-0 today in Golden.

“We’re excited about it,” said Clarke. “We played very, very well against them in the last game (a 1-1 draw through two overtimes in the RMAC semifinals that Mines advanced to the league title game in a penalty kick shootout.

“We’re defending better and better,” Clarke added. “I think it’s going to be a great game and contested quite hard by two well-matched teams. We’re looking forward to it.”

Fort Lewis is the defending Central Region champions, while Colorado Mines won the RMAC postseason title last weekend.

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