(Kelsey Lowry/CHSAANow.com)
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY — There’s no doubt that Class 4A girls soccer is competitive across the board. Wednesday night’s matchup between The Classical Academy and Air Academy girls’ soccer teams proved just that.
These two soccer powers ranked in the top 10 battled it out and it resulted in a 0-0 tie.
Throughout the first half, the ball seemed to be in No. 6 Air Academy’s possession, but missed passes and connections left the game scoreless. Every time an Air Academy player would get a break, a Classical Academy girl was there to stop it.
“We started off really slow,” said Blake Galvin, head coach of sixth-ranked Classical Academy. “But after those first 20-30 minutes, we just started to figure things out and got into the groove.”
The second half was more face paced and saw more shots taken, but great blocking and stops from Air Academy’s Kaitlyn Blacksten and TCA’s Lauren Fletcher kept the game at a stalemate.
“This was a tight, competitive game,” said Air Academy’s head coach Espen Hosoien. “But you have to score goals to win games.”
With only a few minutes left in the game, Air Academy’s Hanna Chaia made a last-ditch effort to score. She got a break but was cut short from a block from TCA and the sound of the buzzer.
After the 80 minutes of regulation passed, the game entered two overtimes. TCA’s Trinity Harvey had a breakaway but was was scooped up by Blacksten. Along with a few other shots from both teams, the defense was too much for either to overcome.
“I have a very talented group,” said Hosoien. “Our first four games have been a bit of a struggle finding the net, but I’m not worried about it and I believe that our girls are going to be very tough to play against.”
Air Academy has started the season 1-2-1.
“On the whole, I’m happy with the way we performed,” Hosoien said. “TCA was solid, and it was a fun intense game.”
The Classical Academy, meanwhile, has started 1-0-2.
“I’m pleased with the effort in the overall game,” said Galvin. “We have several injuries and some girls that are nursing injuries, so we weren’t 100 percent, but these girls worked hard, and it was great to see that from them.
“We defended incredibly well, made tackles when we needed them, and made saves when they needed to,” Galvin added. “Right now, we just need to focus on getting healthy and keeping our composure and I think the key thing for us is to become more familiar with ourselves and just continue to play.”
Overall, the 4A field is going to be extremely competitive this season and more tough games like this are sure to happen again.
Both teams will play next Tuesday. The Classical Academy will play at Lewis-Palmer, and Air Academy will face Littleton.