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Postgame Quotes (PDF)

DENVER - No. 1 Fort Lewis edged No. 14 Metro State 1-0 on Friday in Denver in a battle of two of the top teams in Division II.  The Skyhawks stayed perfect at 11-0-0 overall and 7-0-0, while the Roadrunners fell to 7-3-1 and 5-2-0.

Play was very even throughout the contest, though both teams had good chances late in the first half.  Scott Crawford (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) blasted a shot from 25 yards out that hit off the far left post at 29:30.  Metro State goalkeeper Shailer Thomas (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington H.S.) made a kick save to keep the game scoreless at 40:16, stopping a hard-drive shot by Derek Freeman from inside the box.

Dele Johnson (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) scored with one minute left in the half for the Roadrunners after a scrum in front of the net following a free kick, but the play was called for offsides as Johnson was behind FLC defense on the previous touch.

Thomas Hoang finally put one in the net for the Skyhawks, firing from the top of the box.  His shot, which was headed for the net, was touched by a Metro State defender and out of the diving reach of Thomas.

Just two minutes later, Scott Grode (Gilbert, Ariz./Basha H.S.) missed right on a breakaway from in front of the net.

Andrew Mejia (Littleton, Colo./Mullen H.S.) nearly tied the game at 69:59, but his 35-yard free kick headed for the top of the net was deflected over the crossbar by FLC goalkeeper Ryan Wirth.

Crawford had three more good scoring opportunities in the final 13 minutes.  He missed high on a bicycle kick in front of the net when Wirth was caught out of the goal at 77:24.  His header from the center of the box with 45 seconds left off a cross from the left side was hard-driven, but right into Wirth's hands.  Crawford had one more opportunity with 12 seconds left, but again was stopped by Wirth from the close-right wing.

Wirth stopped eight shots in the game, while Thomas made three saves.

Crawford and Mejia both attempted a career-high six shots.

Metro State will host Colorado Mesa at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.