Dakota Ridge kicks it into high gear in playoff opener

LAKEWOOD — Didn’t look like it would be a good scoring night for Dakota Ridge junior Kaylie Sheehan on Wednesday at Lakewood Memorial Field.

Sheehan had a couple of really good scoring chances in the first half of the Class 4A girls soccer state tournament opener against Skyline, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

“I think it was hard in the first half,” Sheehan admitted. “During halftime I just tried to put the first half in the past. I wanted to move forward into the second half.”

The No. 8-seeded Eagles soared in the second half with 6-unanswered goals to take a 6-0 shutout victory against No. 25 Skyline. 

“(Skyline) kind of bunkered in,” Dakota Ridge coach Paul Moline said of the Falcons holding the Eagles scoreless in the first 40 minutes. “They have a great center back who organizes things and keeps them in the game. They had a lot of bodies back that we needed to find a way to break through.”

Sheehan broke through in a big way with a hat-trick in the second half. The junior scored in the 48th, 56th and 70th minutes. Sheehan’s first goal was a shot to the far post that hit the corner where the post and crossbar meet.

“I did not think that was going in,” Sheehan said of her first goal that hit crossbar and post before crossing the goal-line. “It gave me the confidence that I can score.”

Sheehan had six goals her sophomore campaign. She currently has 24 goals this season after her third hat-trick of the year. 

“Kaylie has become a scorer,” Moline said of the Eagles’ leading goal scorer this season. “You can see how she is so calm on the ball now. She is really hard to play against. She is so long and the players around her are so good. She does a really good job.”

Sheehan changed her attacking approached that paid off in a big way against the Falcons (6-9-1 record).

“I thought the adjustments we made at halftime worked out really well,” Moline said. 

Sophomore Sydney Jussel, senior Tatum Flynn and junior Tatym Williams all had a goal each as the Eagles poured on the goals after halftime.

Dakota Ridge is on a 7-game winning streak. The Eagles suffered back-to-back losses to No. 2 Green Mountain and No. 1 Evergreen in mid-April. Since then the Eagles (13-3) have outscored their past seven opponents to the tune of 34-1.

“I think we are using those losses to fuel us, move us forward and keep us going,” Sheehan said of the two defeats nearly a month ago. 

The Eagles will host No. 9 Palmer Ridge (10-3-3) in the second round of the state tournament on Saturday, May 10, at Lakewood Memorial Field. 

“I think there is still room,” Moline said of the Eagles not having reached their full potential yet. “The girls talk about it too. We are playing well, but they think we can even play better.”