(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — The strength of the Manitou Springs girls soccer team has been the play of its freshmen and sophomores. But coming into their rivalry game against St. Mary’s on Friday night, they behaved more like seasoned veterans.
The Mustang defenders completely shut down forward Scooter Ross as they battled to a 3-2 win over the Pirates.
“It was a big day for our girls,” Manitou coach Ben Mack said. “They grew up a little bit today.”
Even with the win, the Mustangs (5-4 overall) did not control the game the whole way. They had to battle from behind as Makenna Bodette buried a shot from over 20 yards out to give the CHSAANow.com No. 8-ranked Pirates (5-3) a quick 1-0 lead.
But the bulk of the Mustangs’ success this season has come from a talented freshman class, and that’s right where they went when the needed an equalizer. A beautifully played ball into the St. Mary’s zone was picked up by freshman Olivia McKenna and she was able to get the ball by Pirates keeper Madelynn Ellis to tie the game.
“We were determined,” McKenna said. “We knew that was what we had to do.”
The Pirates kept trying to press the attack and often found themselves in a position to get good shots off, but each one seemed to sail wide of the net. In a tie game against a rival, that will more often than not spell doom for a team.
“It came down to two things,” St. Mary’s coach Gregg Braha said. “The team that made more mistakes was going to lose, that was us. The other thing is that at halftime, I think there were three shots on goal and there were three goals. It became an issue of who was going to get more shots would win the game.”
But it wasn’t necessarily an issue of shot quantity as it was shot quality.
McKenna soon found herself with the ball, attacking the St. Mary’s zone in the 32nd minute. She played it into the middle where Georgia Findlay was able to put the ball into the net giving the Mustangs a 2-1 lead.
And Mack’s team knew the game was far from over. Even with a one-goal lead, there was still the wildcard of Ross, who Mack openly claimed was the top forward in Class 3A.
Ross was able to find herself on a breakaway and was even able to draw Mustangs keeper Monique Heiniger entirely out of the net. But on her shot, it once again sailed wide of the net.
“She’s incredibly dangerous,” Mack said. “We had to be really careful because one or two false steps and she’s behind (the defense) like you saw on that.”
Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt the Pirates.
Manitou soon took the lead as a scramble in front of the net ended with sophomore Brooklyn Mack scoring for the Mustangs, giving them a 3-1 cushion.
“That opportunity won us the game,” Brooklyn said. “Those (50/50) balls right in front of the net are the most important balls of the game. They’re the ones that are laid out in front of you and have to get those in the net.”
And for every open look the Pirates were getting in the game, it seemed to be the contested shots that paid the most dividends. Haley Plush cut the Mustangs’ lead to one as she launched a shot over the Manitou defenders and the outstretched fingers of Heiniger.
But that’s as close as St. Mary’s would get. The Mustangs controlled the ball late and prevented St. Mary’s from getting any organized offense together.
The Pirates got knocked down, but they’re far from out. Braha will let his team mentally regroup over the weekend before getting back to work Monday.
“It’s a growing process,” Braha said. “We’ll learn from it.”