The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“The word that sums up everything is effort”
[ by Than Acuff ]
It was tense and it took a late game save and a late game goal before the Crested Butte Titans girls soccer team edged out a 1-0 win over Buena Vista in the first round of the 2A state tournament on Saturday, June 19. The win sends them to the semifinals to face Telluride.
There were plenty of questions heading into that first postseason match. It had been two weeks since Crested Butte’s last game, and with players juggling work and summer commitments, workouts were scheduled in an effort to balance summer and soccer. While she never had a full squad at a single practice, players showed up when they could and as game day drew near, coach Julia Kidd saw a shift in the right direction among her players.
“Matt Wilson came in to help out some and hearing a new voice I think helped,” says Kidd. “Practices on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were great and I felt it all come together. They were fired up and I felt it was a very winnable game.”
Stepping onto the Western Colorado University turf field also helped stoke the Titans’ fire and once the game started, Crested Butte went right to work establishing ball possession and held the ball in Buena Vista’s end for almost the entire first half.
The few attacks Buena Vista did manage to put together were easily turned away by Crested Butte’s back line and, rather than blast the ball back up field, the Titans’ defense took the time to find players with pinpoint passes.
The trouble for Crested Butte came though in the attacking third as Buena Vista’s defense was equally solid, backed by an especially strong goalie. As a result, the teams finished the first half tied 0-0.
“I think we had 13 shots to their two in that first half,” says Kidd. “We were knocking, knocking, knocking but missing that finishing touch.”
The second half started out much like the first half finished with Crested Butte dominating possession and making a concerted effort to push the ball wide.
“We knew that their mode is to pack the inside so our effort was to use the flanks and use the width of the field,” says Kidd. But Buena Vista’s center defense held tight forcing crosses out of bounds and leaving the Titans no room to shoot in close.
As the half continued, Crested Butte grew tired with their effort and the game shifted into Crested Butte’s half. While the back four remained resilient, one quick ball up field sent Buena Vista’s speedy striker loose and straight onto the Titans’ net. Crested Butte goalie Mara Pennie came off her line and when the Buena Vista player shot, Pennie dove to her right to block the shot and deny Buena Vista their lone scoring chance.
“That was huge,” says Kidd. “Mara is the real deal goalie.”
The two teams traded rushes the next five minutes and when Crested Butte found a gap in the Buena Vista defense with a through ball onto goal, the Buena Vista goalie made a similarly huge save but was injured in the play and had to be taken off the field in a stretcher.
The two teams picked back up with 10 minutes left in regulation and the Titans started pressing again. Ultimately, the pressure led to a foul inside the 18-yard box and Crested Butte was awarded a penalty kick. Freshman Leigh Harpel was given the nod to take the shot and Harpel buried her shot top shelf for a 1-0 lead.
Crested Butte then held on through the final five minutes to seal the win and punch their ticket to the 2A state semifinals.
“We were keeping the pressure on and earned the penalty kick,” says Kidd. “Leigh deserved that.”
Telluride advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 win over Denver Christian setting up the third showdown between the two teams this season with Telluride winning the first two.
“I think it’s hard to beat the same team three times in a season,” says Kidd. “We know them and they know us and they did a good job of shutting down Leigh the last time we played them so we’re looking for other options in our midfield.”
A win over Telluride would send them to the 2A finals on Saturday, June 26 in Colorado Springs, more than likely against Dawson.
“The word that sums up everything is effort,” says Kidd. “It’s a winnable game but they have to decide. Against Buena Vista they decided and the effort was there. Hopefully we see the same thing against Telluride.”
