Ralston Valley senior Shae Sellers, right, tries to elude the pressure from Standley Lake freshman Camille Garcia during the first half Friday at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Every goal has been a treasured commodity during the race for the Class 5A Jeffco girls’ soccer league championship this spring.
That was definitely the case Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. A goal by Ralston Valley sophomore Emma Musson in the 65th minute gave the Mustangs, No. 10 in the latest CHSAANow.com 5A girls’ soccer rankings, a 3-1 lead. Ralston Valley hung on for a 3-2 victory against Standley Lake.
“I thought we would score more, but Standley Lake came back harder,” Musson said of what turned out to be the game-winning goal. “It was rough.”
Standley Lake senior Sammie Brown scored in the 72nd minute to close the Gators to within one goal, but Standley Lake wasn’t able to get the equalizer in the final minutes to force overtime.
“It opened up in the second half,” Standley Lake coach Jeff Vigil said. “Both teams just gave it everything they had. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we are on the wrong end of it but our season isn’t over.”
Standley Lake freshman Sophia Brown (13) and Ralston Valley senior Brenna Marinez (17) both elevate for a header Friday at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss)
Ralston Valley (11-2), Standley Lake (10-3) and Columbine (10-3) entered the day with identical 5-1 league records. The victory vaulted the Mustangs atop the conference standings alone. Chatfield upset Columbine 2-1 on Friday to drop the Rebels one game behind the Mustangs with one league game remaining.
Columbine will actually face Ralston Valley in both teams’ league finale at 4 p.m. April 29, at NAAC. A victory or tie Tuesday would win the league title for the Mustangs. A Rebels win could force a three-way tie where Columbine would likely take the crown with least goals allowed in league play.
The conference game was originally scheduled for April 3, but snow postponed the game to the end of the league docket.
“No matter what we have to win.” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said. “I knew when our game against Columbine got cancelled it would come down to the league championship. It’s huge because they will be a good view of what we’ll get in the playoffs.”
Ralston Valley freshman Lindsay Guerrero opened up the scoring Friday with a goal in the 35th minute off an assist from Musson.
“I just crossed it in and hoped someone would be there to finish it,” Musson said.
Standley Lake answered early in the second half when junior Taylor McRae headed in a free kick taken by sophomore Kat Lopez to tie the game at 1-1.
Ralston Valley regained the lead in the 63rd minute with Kasee Horton deflecting in a corner kick by sophomore Alyssa Kaiser. Musson’s goal came less than a two minutes later for a 3-1 Ralston Valley lead.
It was the fourth league game Ralston Valley has been involved in that was decided by one goal.
“To go into this week of the season there are three teams tied for first and three other teams fighting to get in,” Morwood said. “It speaks for the talent in Jeffco and the coaches who really care about there kids and really want their kids in (the playoffs). It’s been awesome.”
The first round of the 5A state playoffs begin May 6.
Jeffco receives three automatic bids to the 32-team tournament. It’s almost a lock Ralston Valley, Columbine and Standley Lake will finish in the top three to gain berths to state. Dakota Ridge and Arvada West could fight their way into an automatic bid, but more likely will have to earn one of the 11 at-large bids.
Standley Lake concludes its regular season with a non-league game against Niwot on Monday, April 28, at NAAC. The Gators last league contest is 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, against Bear Creek at Lakewood Memorial Field.
“I think we have a playoff run in us,” Vigil said. “I’m excited about it.”
Standley Lake senior Krissy Collins, left, and Ralston Valley sophomore Rachel Bolin chase after a loose ball in the Gators’ defensive end Friday night. The Mustangs took a 3-2 victory against the Gators. (Dennis Pleuss)