Box Score
GOLDEN, Colo. — No. 23 Fort Lewis College defeated No. 14 Regis 4-1 in the penalty kick shootout that followed a 1-1 stalemate through 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods in the second Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's soccer semifinal at the Colorado School of Mines Soccer Field today. The game is officially recorded as a 1-1 tie in the record book, with the Skyhawks advancing on penalties.
The real story was Skyhawk goalkeeper Ryan Wirth, who stopped two Regis shots during the shootout that kept FLC's hopes of defending its 2009 NCAA Division II championship alive.
“It would have been nice to win it in regular time, but we'll take it,” said second-year head coach Oige Kennedy.
A former goalkeeper himself, Kennedy was quick to praise his disciple.
“He came up big,” Kennedy said of Wirth. “He's the hardest working kid you can meet and I'm absolutely delighted for him. He deserves every little piece of success that he gets. It's very rare for the goalkeeper to be the center of attention and the hero. Because of Ryan we'll be playing on Sunday.”
In what's become a tune that's been sung all too often this season, the Skyhawks dominated play in the first half but found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard at intermission.
“We possessed the ball the majority of the first half,” said Kennedy.
Unfortunately, a miscue proved costly. Kyle Emge converted a turnover and sent a through ball from the top of the box to Nathan Kafer, who buried his 15th goal of the year at 15:15 to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
It wasn't until late in the game that the Skyhawks netted the equalizer. Thomas Hoang volleyed a crossing pass from Cory Dean past Regis goalkeeper Doug Passalaqua at 70:49 to level the score at 1-1. The goal was Hoang's fifth of 2010.
“Our goal was one of the best goals we've scored all season,” said Kennedy. “We moved it up the right side, Cory cut back and put a great cross in. Thomas volleyed it from 14 yards out into the corner for a really good goal.”
Things got crazy in the final 10 minutes. Hoang sent a shot just high on a one-v-one opportunity in the 82nd minute. Regis' Ben Buhler hit the crossbar in the 86th minute. Neither team mustered much offense in the two overtimes.
The penalty kick round started with a successful PK by FLC's Jamie Cunningham. Then Emge was stopped by Wirth to give FLC a 1-0 lead after the first round. Fabian Kling and Kafer each scored in the second round. Cory Dean made it 3-1 FLC before Wirth made his second save of the PK round, this time stonewalling Regis' Justin Ortinau. Hoang sealed the deal in the fourth round by beating Passalaqua, ending the shootout at 4-1 in favor of the Skyhawks.
The Fort Lewis men are now 4-0 all-time in shootouts, advancing twice in RMAC play (2000 and 2010) and twice in the NCAA tournament (1999 and 2006).
In Friday's other semifinal, No. 3 Colorado Mines (16-1-1) defeated Metro State (12-5-3) 3-2.
The Orediggers and Skyhawks — archrivals for the past decade — meet at noon Sunday at the CSM soccer field in the 2010 RMAC men's soccer championship game.
