Titans girls’ soccer falls in quarterfinals

“It was an honor to be able to coach them, and I loved their dedication and commitment”

[ by Than Acuff ]

After entering the 2A soccer state tournament as the fourth seed and taking down Colorado Springs Christian 5-2 in their first state game, the Crested Butte Titans girls’ soccer team fell 1-0 to Frontier Academy in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 13 bringing an end to the Titans’ season.
Crested Butte handed Frontier Academy a 5-1 loss when the two teams met in the quarterfinals last year, but their opponent still had one of the top scorers in 2A and the Titans planned accordingly.
“We knew they had a player on the wing that was dangerous, so we made a couple of little adjustments but not too many,” says head coach Tom Lewis. “We just told them go out there, have fun and do the things you know how to do.”
The first half proceeded as hoped, at least the first 39 minutes and 30 seconds, as the Titans were immediately on attack and remained on attack. Senior Nora Thomes led the effort in the midfield while the Titans used the flanks to open up Frontier’s back line. Their work rate and ball movement led to a couple scoring attempts, but Frontier held on tight with a quality goalie in net and defenders swarming loose balls to clear them.
Molly Miller came close to opening the scoring eight minutes into the game followed by good looks from Brie Polster and Calla Fenlon but couldn’t quite find the final touch for the finish.
“The players wanted it and were feeding off the energy of the crowd,” says Lewis. “We were doing well because they were playing with freedom. Just couldn’t find the finishing touch inside the box.”
Frontier lost their top scorer to injury midway through the first half and Crested Butte continued to press but as halftime drew near, a long ball from Frontier skipped past the Titans’ back three and they seized on the chance scoring with 30 seconds left in the half to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
“I told the girls, we’ve been in this situation before,” says Lewis. “The goals are going to come, we just need to be less individual and move the ball more.”
Crested Butte remained on attack to open the second half resulting in a couple of corner kicks in the first 10 minutes, but Frontier remained diligent in their defensive efforts. As the half wore on it became increasingly obvious that Frontier was settled into a plan of holding onto their one-goal lead getting as many as nine players back in their defensive third to hold Crested Butte at bay and seal the 1-0 win.
“They knocked in a goal and immediately dropped into a low block for 40 minutes,” says Lewis. “We just couldn’t get through.”
The loss in the quarterfinals brought an abrupt end to a Titans’ season that had plenty to celebrate winning their league title and finishing the season with a 10-3-4 record. The Titans scored 46 goals on the year led by Fenlon and Miller with 13 goals each while the Titans limited teams to a total of 12 goals on the season.
“It was an honor to be able to coach them, and I loved their dedication and commitment,” says Lewis. “It was a really fun season with new challenges to work through for the players and the coaches. Hopefully, we all turn around and remember soccer is about fun, mixed in with results.”