Columbine edges Cherokee Trail in top-10 5A girls soccer showdown

LAKEWOOD — Columbine girls soccer remained perfect on the season Tuesday night at Lakewood Memorial Field.

The Rebels — No. 7 in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A girls soccer rankings — faced their toughest test so far this season in No. 4 Cherokee Trail. Despite being shorthanded, Columbine notched a 1-0 victory over the Cougars (3-1) to improve to a 5-0 record.

“We aren’t worried about the players that are missing. We are only worried about the players that are here,” Columbine coach Paul Moline said. “We had to shift a couple of players around. Some players that normally help us out with depth stepped up and played crucial roles today. It’s exciting.”

Columbine’s leading goal scorer — senior Andrea Iljkic — will be gone for two weeks, but she has a good reason. Iljkic is currently with the Croatia national team.

“How great is that? What an opportunity,” said Moline, who added that Iljkic’s teammates were all supportive of the Rebels’ leading scorer taking a bit of a hiatus from her high school team.

Iljkic had 14 goals in 19 games for the Rebels as a junior last season. She netted four goals in Columbine’s season opener against Golden back on March 10.

“It is tough without Andrea here at times, but we all filled our roles and did what we had to do,” Columbine senior captain Sydney Somers said after the shutout victory against Cherokee Trail. 

The lone goal Tuesday came off the foot of Columbine senior Jaycie Hayes in the 21st minute of the first half. Junior Samantha Carter made a solid run down the right wing before centering the ball that found Hayes.

“(Carter) has all that speed and can draw players wide,” Moline said. 

Hayes put the ball past Cougar sophomore goalie Ruby Arsenault. It was the only goal the Rebels needed as they recored their second shutout victory of the young season.

“We knew we would probably be the underdog coming into this one. That wasn’t our mindset when we came out on the field,” Somers said. “We knew we were the team that wanted to win the most. We just worked as hard as we could and got that first goal.”

Columbine freshman goalie Ella Rieben got the shutout victory in net.

Cherokee Trail had a couple of prime scoring chances. Senior Torie Turner hit the post in the 15th minute. It appeared the Cougars had tied the game at 1-1 in the 49th minute, but the play was ruled offside.

The Rebels are off to their best start on the pitch in well over a decade, including Columbine run to the 5A state championship in 2014. 

Moline has coached a handful of girls and boys Jeffco soccer programs over the past three decades has returned to his high school alma mater this season.

“We are trying to learn how to play together right now,” Moline said. “As long as we are playing hard and within what we are working on. It’s slowing coming together. I think they are starting to galvanize a bit. That is great for us.”

Columbine had a handful of Division I players that graduated a semester early to join their college programs this spring. The Rebels lost 2-1 to Broomfield in the 5A state semifinals last spring.

“Our goal is to get closer as a team and improve,” Somers said. “We haven’t played together that much. A lot of my teammates now I have never played with before. We want to keep growing as a team and improving. I think we are already doing that.”