COLORADO SPRINGS – Only after the final horn sounded Saturday evening did Matt Degitis allow his team to stop playing defense.
 
And that was only grudgingly.

In the face of a challenge from a potent Greeley Central offense, the Mullen head coach insisted that his team put every ounce of effort into it.

After 80 clean minutes of stifling defense, top-seeded Mullen got rewarded with the long-awaited Class 4A state championship trophy — the second in program history — after a 2-0 victory at Weidner Field.

"Even past the final whistle, I told them 'you are still defending until they put that trophy in your hands,’" Degitis said.

Mullen (18-1-1) took that to heart, as it managed to neutralize the threat of Greeley Central's pair of 20-goal scorers — Diego Guzman and Allyson Izaguirre Almendarez — as hardly any other team had during the season. Greeley Central came into the game undefeated and had tallied 76 goals in 19 games.

While Mullen midfielders and forwards took pressure off with a dominance in possession, Greeley Central's duo had very little space to operate against junior Jackson Kaunda and the rest of the backline.

"Greeley Central has had an amazing season and they have a couple of phenomenal players," Kaunda said. "We had to make sure we were focused for 80 minutes, just staying dialed in and keeping aware of where they were at all times. I'm so proud of the boys.

"Walking off the field, I was like 'is it really over?' Now we get to celebrate and bring this back to Mullen. It's our second-ever championship and it means everything."

No matter how good the defensive effort, a goal is needed to win, however.

All that was needed came courtesy of senior forward Rocco Manerbino — one of seven players with six or more goals scored on the season — in the third minute.

Manerbino and junior midfielder Liam Sappuppo worked a corner play Mullen had been honing for the right moment, and though it didn't go exactly as planned, it opened an opportunity for Manerbino, who dropped a perfect shot from the top of the goal box into the far corner of the net.

"Liam usually takes the guy 1 v 1 on the end line, but he didn't end up doing it and I just popped out for him," Manerbino said. "I just saw the back post was open and I decided to put it there."

The early goal — which came after an tremendous opening flurry of pressure — went exactly as planned.

Degitis noted Mullen's advantage playing at the venue last season — when it lost 1-0 to Air Academy — and how it used that edge against Greeley Central (17-1-2), which played at Weidner Field for the first time and had never before made a state championship game.

"We were familiar and while they were adjusting to the lights and the crowd and everything, that's when we were going to go after them," Degitis said. "These boys brought the fury."

The early fury only resulted in one goal, however, and the margin remained one until the 66th minute when senior midfielder Roman Cedillo added some insurance with his seven goal of the season.

Denied on some quality early chances, Cedillo was in the right place when senior forward JT Gerber crossed a ball from the wing and he finished past Greeley Central senior goalie Robert Humphrey to double the lead.

"Roman probably scored his hardest of chances, but it's a final, so why not hold on for the best?" Degitis said.

Mullen stayed resolute for the rest of the game and never gave Greeley Central more than a short burst of momentum.

That allowed the winning feeling to build for the team and its fans until the final horn.

"This environment with all our fans and brothers supporting us was nothing but pleasure to play in," Manerbino said. "I genuinely feel pure joy flowing throughout my whole body."

Degitis brought up a Mullen group from five seasons prior — the 2021 team that lost to Northfield by a goal on the same pitch — as a foundation for this run to the championship.

The Mustangs — the state's runner-up in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2021 and 2024 — indeed finished with the program's second title (to go with one from 2011).

"It has been an incredible project," he said. "We were here five years years ago...the boys who played here and lost to Northfield were the ones who set this into motion. They were fighting for this because of what they did that night. We talked about that, and we are going to win a state championship and you're going to be a big part of it."