Broomfield girls soccer erases late deficit, defeats Columbine in OT
BROOMFIELD — Broomfield’s girls soccer team was well prepared for the sticky situation it faced Wednesday night in the Class 5A girls soccer state quarterfinal against Columbine.
A goal by Columbine junior Tessa Barton in the 52nd minute looked like it would hold up and eliminate the No. 2-seeded Eagles from the state tournament on their home field. However, Broomfield coach Jim Davidson had a formula in place for this very situation and to eventually pull out a 2-1 overtime victory.
“It’s a little serendipitous. We trained up a goal and down a goal with five minutes to play the other day,” Davidson said. “We found ourselves down a goal with less than five minutes to play. We just reminded our girls to play with urgency. Somehow we were able to find the back of the net to get to overtime.”
The Eagles were awarded a direct free kick near the corner with less than three minutes to play in regulation. Broomfield senior Jessie Mooney sent in the kick and junior Lindsay Hudson was able to get a foot on it. The ball just bounced past Columbine goalie Madeline Samuelson to tie the game at 1-1.
“We didn’t defend that set piece well,” Columbine coach Brian Todd admitted. “We overloaded in the wall and didn’t have enough girls in the box. We hadn’t made a mistake like that defensively all year.”
Broomfield (17-0-1 record) didn’t waste anytime scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. Senior Ashley Tuccio fed a ball forward to sophomore Mallory Mooney, who was able to get off a solid shot. Samuelson, who had to make a handful of great saves in the final 20 minutes of regulation time, made the save.
“We knew coming in she (Samuelson) was really good,” Mallory Mooney said. “We knew we had to finish it on the ground if we were going to score.”
However, the rebound off Mallory Mooney’s shot went right to senior Hailey Stodden, who hammered the ball into the net in the 84th minute for the game winner to end the season for No. 7 Columbine (14-4) .
“It was a great individual effort by (Mallory Stodden) to take those defensive backs on and she put on a great shot on goal,” Davidson said. “It just ended up in Hailey’s lap.”
Samuelson had a brilliant two-year span as the Rebels’ goalie with 26 wins in net and 19 shutout victories.
“I know I should take responsibility for that,” Samuelson said of allowing the rebound on the shot in overtime. “If you can’t catch it as a keeper in a high-pressure situation like that it completely lets you down.”
Samuelson is one of eight Rebel seniors who played their final prep soccer game of their career.
“This is going to drive me forward for the rest of my college career. I’m never going to forget this day,” Samuelson said. “I think we are really upset right now, but especially for these seniors this will get us ready for college.”
The Eagles and Rebels met up in the state playoffs last season. Broomfield moved on with a second-round victory in a shootout, but eventually lost in the semifinals to Arapahoe.
“Hats off to Broomfield. They are a phenomenal program,” Todd said. “I absolutely love playing them. Good luck to Broomfield.”
Columbine won the first team state title in any girls sport in 2014 when the Rebels defeated Jeffco rival Ralston Valley 3-1 in the state championship game.
Broomfield’s lone girls soccer state title came in 2006 when the Eagles defeated Ralston Valley in the 4A state championship game. Broomfield has been close to another state title, finishing runner-up in 2015 (5A), 2014 (4A) and 2013 (4A).
“We just want to go all the way this year,” Mooney said.
Broomfield faces No. 3 Rock Canyon in the state semifinals Saturday, May 19, at Echo Park in Parker.
