Ralston Valley girls soccer repeats as 5A Jeffco League champs

LAKEWOOD — One goal is all it took Thursday night for Ralston Valley girls soccer to repeat as Class 5A Jeffco League champions.

Senior Holly Engelking got her head on a corner kick from junior Mia Alfaro in the 57th minute against Columbine at Lakewood Memorial Field. With a ton of traffic deep in the goal box, the ball just crossed the goal line to give Ralston Valley a 1-0 lead.

“It hit my head and I saw it go in, but then everyone kept playing,” Engelking said of her first goal of the season. “I wasn’t sure if it went in. I guess I got it.”

What the Mustangs (9-0-3, 4-0-1 in league) also got was the 5A Jeffco League title plaque after the game as the 1-0 score held up. 

Ralston Valley had to defeat Columbine (7-3-3, 4-1-0) to claim the conference title. A win or tie for the Rebels would have given the league championship to Columbine.

“We knew it was going to be a hard game,” Engelking said of facing the Rebels, who were seeking their first league title since 2018. “We knew it would going to come down to one play to get that goal to win the game.”

Columbine was on a 4-game winning streak where the Rebels had given up just one goal over the stretch. Ralston Valley was coming off a dramatic 4-2 victory over league rival Arvada West on Monday and were also shorthanded Thursday night playing without leading goal scorer Santana Sabus.

“We knew someone had to step up and score today,” said Engelking, who will continue her soccer career at Auburn University next fall. “Honestly, I didn’t know it was going to be me.”

Sabus missed the league finale because she was out of town with her club basketball team. Sabus has 19 goals on the season.

“We missed Santana tonight, but I was proud to see everyone step up around it,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said. “They all did what they could to get one ball into the back of the net.”

Ralston Valley’s defense was solid in front of junior goalie Maddie King. Columbine’s best scoring chance came in the 60th minute. Sophomore Brooklyn Lee shot a volley off a center pass toward the net, but it just sailed off target.

The Mustangs still haven’t suffered a loss this season. Ralston Valley has three 1-1 ties — Boulder, Broomfield and Valor Christian — on its record heading into the final week of the regular season. 

“We love winning league titles. We haven’t won a ton over the years,” Morwood said of the program’s third 5A Jeffco League title since 2013. “To be back-to-back is really fun and special. They wanted it tonight.”

The Mustangs did win six straight Jeffco 10 League titles from 2002 to 2007. 

Ralston Valley and Columbine will both play two non-league games in 5A Jeffco’s plus-2 tournament next week. The six league teams will play games on Monday, April 28, and Thursday, May 1, in games that don’t count toward the league standings.

“I’m not sure yet,” Morwood said of how the Mustangs would treat the final two plus-2 Jeffco non-league games. “Obviously want to keep your RPI high and those games matter toward that. You can’t just take those games off, but you don’t want any other further injuries going into the playoffs. We’ll take tomorrow off, let them rest over the weekend and then figure it out.”

First-round games of the 32-team 5A state tournament will played Tuesday, May 6.

Ralston Valley was No. 2 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index before the win against Columbine. The Rebels were 16th.