No. 9 D’Evelyn boys soccer works OT to defeat Evergreen
LAKEWOOD — If Wednesday night at Lakewood Memorial Field was any indication, the race for the Class 4A Jeffco League title will be a wild one.
D’Evelyn, ranked No. 9 in this week’s CHSAANow.com 4A boys soccer poll, knocked off defending 4A state champ Evergreen in a 3-2 overtime thriller. It was the conference opener for both teams.
“Jeffco is a really good league,” said D’Evelyn senior Wesley Tedstrom, who scored his team-leading ninth goal in the win. “It’s very intimidating, but we are one of those intimidating teams that people have to look out for as well.”
Jaguars’ opponents have to beware of the return of D’Evelyn senior Charles Doebbler. Doebbler, a starter for D’Evelyn as a freshman and sophomore, ran cross country instead of playing soccer last fall. He decided to return to the soccer pitch for his senior season.
“I just really missed the guys,” Doebbler said when asked why he came back. “I love soccer and I’m glad I came back.”
Doebbler was key in the win over Evergreen. The senior opened the scoring in the 19th minute with the lone goal of the first half. Doebbler scored his fifth goal of the season three minutes into overtime for the game-winning goal.
“To have him (Doebbler) back this year is amazing,” D’Evelyn coach Paul Moline said.
The game-winning goal was set up from some deep offensive pressure on Evergreen senior goalie Logan Westgard. D’Evelyn senior Owen Fulton had a pair of shots at point-blank range on Westgard, but the Cougars’ keeper was up to the task with a pair of sprawling saves.
However, the second rebound went right to Doebbler who rocketed a shot into the back of the net to give the Jaguars (6-3 record, 1-0 in league) their fourth straight victory.
“It was just there and came right to me to give me a perfect shot,” Doebbler said.
Evergreen had fallen behind twice. A goal off the head of Evergreen senior Adam Babb in the 54th minute tied the game at 1-1. Evergreen senior Brock Anderson sent the game into overtime with his fourth goal of the season with just less than two minutes remaining in regulation time.
Despite losing a pair of leads, Moline was confident the Jaguars could get the game-winning goal with solid offensive pressure in the first 10 minutes of overtime.
“We just turned it on in overtime,” Moline said. “We have that character on this team these last few weeks. We don’t quit. They really believe in each other a lot.”
D’Evelyn had an impressive last week with a 4-1 victory over then 4A’s No. 1 ranked Cheyenne Mountain and 1-0 win on the road against Ponderosa.
“If we want to go deep in the playoffs these are the games we have to win,” Moline said. “If we can play our best game it gives us a chance against anybody.”
Next up for the Jaguars is league rival Wheat Ridge at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, at Lakewood Memorial.
The defending 4A state champions have already endured a pretty rough patch. After a dominating 6-0 victory over Palmer in the Cougars’ season opener, Evergreen (3-4-1, 0-1) had an eight-day stretch of three straight losses (Air Academy, Arvada West and Durango) and a tie against Kent Denver.
“We’ll get back to work tomorrow,” Evergreen coach Ross Fowler said. “It’s about making sure we are proactive on how we solve problems before they become real problems.”
Heading into conference play its pretty clear 4A Jeffco will be competitive. Seven of eight teams in the conference were at or above .500 during non-league play. Evergreen and Standley Lake both made the 4A state semifinals last year with the Cougars eventually defeating The Classical Academy 1-0 in the state championship game.
“There were very few easy games in Jeffco last year. It’s going to be no different this year,” Fowler said. “We know we have to dig in. We know everyone is going to raise their game against us. We’ve got to be able to match that and go one step beyond.”
Evergreen’s next league test will be against Golden on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
