WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the No. 9 seeded University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's soccer team saw their 2023 season come to a close on Friday afternoon as they surrendered a trio of second half goals in their first-round matchup against No. 8 seeded Fort Lewis College, falling by a final score of 3-2 at Stang Park in Wichita Falls, Texas.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: (9) UCCS 2, (8) FLC 3
Records: UCCS (10-6-5, 5-2-3 RMAC), FLC (12-4-4, 6-1-3 RMAC)
Facility: Stang Park | Wichita Falls, Texas
All-Time Series: The Mountain Lions drop to 15-44-5 all-time against the Skyhawks.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After an opening 20 minutes that saw the Mountain Lions control the stat sheet by holding a 5-1 advantage in total shots, the Skyhawks earned their first major opportunity of the match in the 23^rd minute as Loic Jean-Baptiste threaded an incredible pass to a wide-open Gabriel Legendre. Legendre would receive the ball and get a left-footed shot off in the direction of the frame, but UCCS goalkeeper Declan Domyan made an aggressive move toward the ball to save the shot with his foot. Just one minute later, Fort Lewis tested Domyan once again with Thomas Kirkham finding some space to take another shot on frame in nearly the same spot as Legendre's, but the Mountain Lion's senior goalkeeper again utilized his legs to deflect the shot away and keep the match scoreless.
• The Skyhawk offense continued to pressure UCCS as the first period continued as they were rewarded with a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box in the 29^th minute, but Tomas Duenes fired his shot just wide left of the net. Fort Lewis returned the favor in the 37^th minute as they committed a handball just outside their penalty area that gave the Mountain Lions a golden opportunity for a free kick within close range. UCCS midfielder Ben Ashfield would line up to take the free kick, but his shot went directly off the defensive wall of the Skyhawks and ricocheted back into the possession of Fort Lewis.
• UCCS continued to ramp up their offensive attack in the final five minutes of the opening half as graduate student Kolby Raineri nearly put the Mountain Lions on the scoreboard in the 40^th minute with a shot that was deflected off the left post. Less than 30 seconds later, the Mountain Lions regained possession of the ball and drew a foul about ten yards outside of the penalty box to create another set piece opportunity deep inside their attacking zone. Raineri would line up to take the free kick for the Mountain Lions and fired a beautiful shot into the top left portion of the net that put UCCS ahead by a score of 1-0 in the 41^st minute. Fort Lewis would find a pair of shot opportunities in the remaining minutes of the period, but the UCCS defense held tight to maintain their one goal advantage heading into the halftime break.
• The Mountain Lions maintained their momentum into the start of the second half as they quickly earned another strong opportunity to extend their lead in the 48^th minute when Alex Andersson drew a foul inside the penalty area, giving UCCS a penalty kick chance. Raineri stepped up to take the penalty kick looking for his second goal of the game, but his shot was saved by FLC goalkeeper Lucas Martin to keep the score at 1-0.
• Despite the missed PK opportunity, UCCS continued to push the offensive tempo in the coming minutes, and it paid off in the 52^nd minute as Marvin Putu sent a beautiful pass to Andersson, who made a quick move around his defender and fired a left-footed shot just past the goalkeeper into the left side of the net to push the Mountain Lion advantage to 2-0.
• Now facing a two-goal deficit, the Skyhawks put their high-powered offense into effect and quickly found a response with Anton Hjalmarsson and Kirkham connecting on successive passes to Duenes, who tapped the ball past Domyan into the back of the net to cut the UCCS lead to 2-1 in the 56^th minute.
• Less than ten minutes later in the 65^th minute, the duo of Kirkham and Hjalmarsson struck again with an equalizer for Fort Lewis as Hjalmarsson tapped a crafty pass in the direction of Kirkham, who finished at the frame to even the match at two goals apiece.
• After 20 minutes of strong back-and-forth action that saw both teams looking for a go-ahead goal, Fort Lewis broke the stalemate in the 87^th minute as Hjalmarsson picked up his third assist of the game, finding Legendre for what turned out to be the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory for the Skyhawks.

STATS FROM THE GAME

• The Skyhawks held advantages in total shots (18-16) and shots on goal (7-4), but the Mountain Lions paced the match with five corner kicks to just two for Fort Lewis.
• Andersson and Raineri both found the net for the Mountain Lions, with Andersson's goal marking his ninth of the season and Raineri's being his sixth of the campaign. Putu also recorded his team-leading eighth assist of the season on Andersson's score in the 52^nd minute.
• Raineri paced the Mountain Lions with five total shots, followed by Andersson with three and Lars Walczyk and Ben Ashfield with two apiece. Raineri and Andersson also matched each other for the team lead with two shots on goal each.
• Nic Grotle and Bogdan Vedernikov were the lone Mountain Lion field players to log full 90-minute performances on Friday afternoon.
• In frame, Domyan logged 90 minutes of action as he allowed three goals and collected four saves.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• In the 38-year history (1986-2023) of the UCCS men's soccer program, Friday's matchup marked the first NCAA Tournament appearance for the Mountain Lions.
• Raineri played the 80^th game of his five-year career on Friday against Fort Lewis, moving him into a tie for the all-time lead in games played in program history with Rob Weber (1996-99). With his goal in the 41^st minute, Raineri also moved into a tie for third all-time in the points category with 78 in his career.
• With his second half goal, Andersson moved into sole possession of sixth all-time in program history with 25 goals and also moved into a tie for seventh all-time with 59 points.
• After recording the 14^th assist of his Mountain Lion career in the second half, Putu moved into a tie for fifth all-time in the category.

 
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics. 
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