Dakota Ridge girls soccer doubles up D’Evelyn

LAKEWOOD — The hotly contested race to the girls soccer Class 4A/3A Jeffco League title has begun. 

A season ago, the conference ended in a 3-way tie with D’Evelyn, Golden and eventual 4A state champion Evergreen all with 7-1 league records. It is expected to be just as competitive this spring.

Dakota Ridge (4-1, 1-0 in league) should join the mix for the league title this season. A 4-2 victory over D’Evelyn (2-3, 0-1) on Wednesday night at Lakewood Memorial Field was a sign the 4A state champions from 2023 a primed to make another title run.

“Nothing like playing a great team to start league, a top team,” Dakota Ridge coach Paul Moline said after the victory over the Jaguars. “It lets you know exactly where you are at. This is the type of opponent you want for your first league game.”

D’Evelyn actually took an early 1-0 lead with a goal by sophomore Lakshmi Lagarda in the 3rd minute. Junior Clayton Lawrence was able to mount a solid counter attack and Lagarda was able to beat an Eagle defender at the goal line to punch in the first goal.

Dakota Ridge put constant pressure on D’Evelyn sophomore Penelopi Casas in the first half, but it took awhile to get a shot past Casas.

“Give it to their goalkeeper (Casas). She was great,” Moline said. “She made some amazing saves on stuff that we thought were in.”

The Eagles finally found the back of the net with goals by senior Tatum Flynn (31st minute) and sophomore Sydney Jussel (33rd minute).

“We needed those a lot,” Dakota Ridge senior Ava Arnold said of the goals by Flynn and Jussel in the final 10 minutes of the first half to grab the 2-1 lead at halftime. “We were controlling most of the possession. It helped us get some confidence and motivation to keep going forward.”

Junior Peyton Patrone and Arnold added goals after halftime to push the lead to 4-1 midway through the second half. Arnold’s goal was a shot from distance that skipped over the head to Casas in the 59th minute.

“She (Arnold) is just getting used to the position she is in and the players around her,” Moline said of the West Virginia University-commit. “We have players who played on the outside last year who are playing on the inside now. It is just getting them comfortable with where they are. It will take some time.”

It was Arnold’s sixth goal of the season to tie junior Kaylie Sheehan for the team lead in goals.

“It isn’t too different,” Arnold said of the slight position change in the middle field. “I like it a lot. It is nice to combine with both the forwards and defense.”

Dakota Ridge’s next challenge will be against Golden on Friday night back at Lakewood Memorial Field. The Demons (3-0, 1-0) dominated Conifer to the tune of 10-0 in their conference opener Tuesday.

“I like getting into league games. It is a lot of competition,” Arnold said. “It’s a good league. It’s going to be fun.”

The Jaguars did get a nice goal in the final minute by junior Clayton Lawrence, but it wasn’t enough. D’Evelyn has dropped three straight games after a 2-0 start to the season.

D’Evelyn has a non-league game on its home field against Chatfield at noon Saturday, March 29.