Cheyenne Mountain girls soccer ends regular season unbeaten

COLORADO SPRINGS — On a night that would see the No. 1-ranked Cheyenne Mountain girls soccer team honor the seniors leading the Indians into the state playoffs as one of the favorites to walk away as state champions, it was only fitting that it was a pair of seniors who would seal the win in their regular season finale.

Tori Burnett and Sara Walters each put the ball in the net within the first 15 minutes of the game, pacing the Indians (12-0-2, 6-0-1) to a 3-0 win over the Wheat Ridge Farmers (11-3, 7-0) Thursday night. The win capped off an undefeated season for the Indians who were a mainstay at the top spot of the CHSAANow.com girls soccer rankings.

The Indians were on the attack early, getting some good looks at the Wheat Ridge net. They were able to convert on an early corner kick opportunity as Burnett was able to head the ball over the reach of Farmers goalkeeper Abby Bausch, taking an early 1-0 lead.

Only minutes later — while still on the attack — forward Sara Walters was tripped up in the goal box, giving the Indians a penalty kick. Aiming right, Walters put the ball past Bausch, giving the Indians a 2-0 lead less than 15 minutes into the contest.

“We finally picked it up to where we were starting quicker and scoring earlier in the game which is helpful,” Burnett said. “It’s really helpful when we’re up early because it lets everyone settle down and relax and get into the game a little bit more.

The Indians would carry the 2-0 lead into halftime where the team would honor its senior class, many of whom will continue to play soccer at the collegiate level. Knowing that the senior class was going to be honored gave those who would step on the field some added motivation not only to win the game, but to help honor the players who were concluding the final regular season of their career.

“I thought we had a lot more energy tonight than we did earlier in the season,” Walters said. “Scoring early definitely helped and I feel like when we go into the playoffs and play the tougher teams, it’s going to help that we won this game the way we did.”

The No. 9 Farmers struggled to establish any offensive rhythm throughout the game. There were stretches of the season where they were able to score almost at will, but the ability of the Indians to keep consistent pressure on the Farmers’ defenders limited the number of scoring opportunities.

That pressure would eventually lead to a third goal for Cheyenne Mountain as a free kick was placed right in front of the Farmers net where another senior, Amanda Burke, was able to head it into the back of the net.

“It’s great to have that much leadership with all that’s going on,” Indians coach Tomas Martinez said. “A lot of (the seniors) are captains and they do a good job of leading the team and keeping things organized. It’s a little sad that they’ll be gone but we’ve had them for four years and most of them have been on varsity so they know what to expect from us and they know what they’re doing.”

With the regular season in the books, the Indians now look at continuing their run of success in the 4A state playoffs. The Indians had a similar run of success going into the 2013 playoffs but stumbled earlier than they had anticipated, giving them some added motivation as they turn their eyes to the postseason.

“We have a lot of confidence and I know we’ll do good things,” Martinez said. “But anything can happen and we found that out the hard way last year.”

The Farmers also have their sights set on postseason play. They finished undefeated in Jeffco league play this season and the match-up against the Indians proved to be a sound test to finish the regular season and prepare for the playoffs.

“You’re playing the best,” coach Dan Watkins said of Cheyenne Mountain. “You’re playing a team that’s organized and does a lot of great things out there and forces you to play good soccer and disciplined soccer.”

Both team will wait for the seeding process to play out which will map out their road toward playing for a state championship.