All Local, All The Time

Wheat Ridge ousts Niwot from soccer playoffs

It was a disappointing end to the season, but Niwot head soccer coach Stephen Dimit was in no way disappointed in his team’s performance against No. 2 seed Wheat Ridge in the second round of the Class 4A state tournament.

“Everybody played really hard,” he said following the Cougars 3-0 loss to the Farmers last Saturday. “We didn’t connect as much as we could have, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Everybody poured their heart into it, and they played for each other.”

The Cougars were stymied by a very solid Farmer’s defense, and managed just a handful of shots on sophomore goalie Logan Duford, who posted her 10th shutout of the season. Senior Kailee Stobbe led the Niwot attack, but was repeatedly turned away by Wheat Ridge defenders.

“Their two center backs are excellent, and the goalkeeper is really good,” said Dimit. “We had a hard time punching through. We just didn’t figure that out.”

On the other side of the field, Niwot held Wheat Ridge scoreless through the 27th minute, but a pair of header goals off of corner kicks late in the first half put the Farmers in control. Wheat Ridge added a third score on a breakaway by sophomore midfielder Molly Kratzer in the 52nd minute, and then held on for the 3-0 victory. Cougar keeper Allie Colvin was otherwise sharp in the loss, with a total of six saves.

“Giving up the two goals in the first half put us in a position where we had to push, and we just didn’t quite get it done today,” admitted Dimit.

Saturday’s loss was all the more of a letdown in the wake of the team’s thrilling overtime victory over Erie in the first round game on May 10. In a steady downpour, Niwot battled both the slippery conditions and the Tigers’ hard-hitting physical attack to the point of exhaustion, twice coming back to tie the game, and then finally winning on senior Maddie Barkow’s “golden goal” in the 98th minute.

The Cougars first had to overcome another shaky start. Erie forward McKenna Harrington slipped a shot past Niwot’s Colvin less than a minute into the game to take a 1-0 lead. But that’s where the similarities to the prior week’s loss to Littleton end. Niwot’s defense, led by juniors Nazary Ramirez-Tapia, Roxie Pasma, and freshman Lauren Cranny, held Erie’s hard-hitting attack at bay for the remainder of the first half. Erie took its 1-0 lead into the break.

The Cougars finally got on the board in the 54th minute when Colvin’s longest punt of the afternoon landed at the feet of Stobbe, who turned and fired it past the Erie keeper to even the score at 1-1.

That kicked off a scoring frenzy from both teams. Just four minutes later, Niwot junior Sage Marten scored on a pass from senior Charlotte McCarthy, giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead. But over the next five minutes, Erie added two goals to pull ahead 3-2.

The Tigers held off Niwot’s dogged attack for the next 16 minutes, and seemed poised to claim their first ever soccer playoff victory. The bruised and muddied Cougars, however, weren’t going to give up their season so easily. With just 17 seconds remaining in regulation, senior Co-Captain Lauren Wolf scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at 3-3, and force overtime.

“We know we play better when we’re calm,” Stobbe said about her team’s demeanor in the final minute before the tying score. “Everyone kept their heads and found each other. No one tried to be the star, and we worked as a team.”

Neither team scored in the first overtime, though Niwot had six shots on goal to Erie’s one. The second OT seemed poised to go the same way, but less than three minutes in, a long shot from Barkow off of a deflection sailed past Erie’s keeper, clinching a 4-3 win for the Cougars, their first playoff victory since 2014.

“I reminded these girls right before that second overtime that there would be an undefeated team at state if it weren’t for us, and we need to come out and remember that,” Dimit said of his team’s effort in the comeback, referring to the Cougars’ 1-0 win over Windsor on March 23, the Wizards only loss. “They rose to the challenge.”

As for Barkow’s heroics, she admitted that between the weather and Erie’s aggressiveness, she was nearing the limits of her endurance. “By the time we got to the second overtime, I was hurting,” she said of her season-saving goal. “I saw my chance and I was like ‘I don’t want to run anymore’, so I was just going to kick it and see where it goes.”

For Stobbe, the hard fought win reflected each player’s commitment, not just to the team, but to each other.

“That game meant everything to us,” she said. “Every girl on the field, every girl on the bench, and every girl that’s on this roster performs to the top of their ability. Every goal we score is for the person next to us. I wouldn’t even say that we’re a team anymore. We’re a family.”

Unity and “playing for each other” were common themes for both Dimit and his players throughout the 2017 season, and though it ended earlier than they’d hoped, both termed the season a success.

“I’m definitely proud to say I’m a member of the Niwot girls varsity soccer team,” said Wolf following the Wheat Ridge loss. “We made it farther than we have for a while, and I’m very proud of that.

Dimit echoed her sentiment, and added that he looks forward to building on this year’s success in the future. “I couldn’t be happier with how the girls bounced back from kind of a rough start to the year, how they battled back and didn’t shy away from a challenge.”

“I thought that we really set the bar high this year for coming years. The girls know what’s expected and how they want to push forward.”

5/10 — Niwot 4, Erie 3 (2OT)

Tigers (11-5, 5-2) 1 2 0 0 — 3

Cougars (12-4, 6-1) 0 3 0 1 — 4

Goals — Madison Barkow, Sage Marten, Kailee Stobbe , Lauren Wolf

Assists — Charlotte McCarthy, Roxie Pasma, Kailee Stobbe

Goalies (Min-OT Min-Goals allowed-Saves) — Allie Colvin (80-17-3-6)

5/13 — Wheat Ridge 3, Niwot 0

Cougars (12-5, 6-1) 0 0 — 4

Farmers (15-2, 6-1) 2 1 — 3

Goalies (Min- Goals allowed-Saves) — Allie Colvin (80-3-6)

 

Reader Comments(0)