COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Derek Freeman scored in the eighth minute as No. 1 Fort Lewis (12-0-0 overall, 8-0-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) defeated UC-Colorado Springs (6-6, 4-4) 1-0 today at Mountain Lion Field.

Third-year FLC head coach Oige Kennedy said senior leadership factored into the victory, especially after losing captain and All-America defender Fabian Kling to a knee injury late in Friday’s 1-0 win over No. 14 Metro State.

“We obviously had some adversity on Friday with the injury to Fabian,” said Kennedy. “Everybody rallied around him really well, especially our seniors. Thomas Hoang, Cory Dean, Ryan Wirth, Joey Madigan and Berekk Blackwell really stepped forward.”

The Skyhawks came out firing on all cylinders, eventually scoring when Alberto Capdepon-Rodriguez slipped a pass along the ground through the Mountain Lion defense to set up Freeman with a one-v-one opportunity.

“Derek finished really well,” Kennedy said of Freeman’s third marker of the season.

The Skyhawks outshot the Mountain Lions 13-6 overall, 6-4 in shots on frame.

UCCS goalkeeper Brandon Costa made five saves, while Wirth stopped four shots.

Fort Lewis returns to Durango today, but hits the road for a match at Colorado Mesa (2-9-1, 2-6) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Walker Field.

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