Columbine girls soccer off to quick 2-0 start on the season

LAKEWOOD — Columbine girls soccer team didn’t waste any time getting a couple of quality victories in before the usual Colorado weather arrived to greet the  Spring high school sport season.

With eminent snow flurries arriving Thursday night into Friday, the Rebels hit the pitch at Lakewood Memorial Field before the weather turned. Columbine took a 3-0 victory over Highlands Ranch to improve its record to 2-0 in the first week of the regular season.

“You don’t want to start 0-2, so 2-0 is perfect,” Columbine coach Brian Todd said after the Rebels’ second straight shutout victory this week. “We have two games under our belt with two games next week. So far I’m pleased with the start. We have to work on some things like all teams do, but I’m proud of this group. I think they’ll be pretty solid.”

Columbine grabbed a 2-0 road victory against Heritage on Tuesday in the Rebels’ season opener. Goals from junior Mackenzie McCoy and sophomore Kendyl Dirschl, along with a shutout in net by senior goalie Ella Rieben got the Rebels off on the right foot. 

It took the Rebels a little bit Thursday night to get going offensively. Columbine and Highlands Ranch were locked in a scoreless game after the first 40 minutes.

“Everyone was frustrated towards the end of the first half,” Columbine senior Avery Bostwick said of the scoreless first half. “We just came out with a different kind of energy at halftime. We started playing as a team.”

Senior Abbi Giedt got the scoring going early in the second half corralling a rebound and putting it into the back of the next in the 43rd minute to give Columbine a 1-0 lead. Bostwick scored her first goal of the season also on a rebound shot in the 60th minute.

Dirschl, who has been moved forward into a more offensive threat position this season, scored her second goal of the season in the 66th minute to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead.

“I think we are moving the ball really well and we have Abbi (Giedt) back,” Bostwick said. “Abbi is very strong with the ball and good at playing those through balls.”

Despite a solid 10-4-3 record last year and second-place finish in 5A Jeffco, the Rebels had just 24 goals last season.

“I think we have a chance to be more offensive and produce more goals this year,” Todd said. “If I can give my team an excuse, a lot of schools are going through a flu bug right now. We are starting to get past it, but we just don’t have our lungs yet.”

Defensively, Columbine has been perfect with the pair of shutout victories. Rieben and fellow senior goalie Ashlyn Hale each played a half in net against Highlands Ranch, who have suffered back-to-back shutout losses to start the season.

“It’s awesome. I think we are off to a really great start,” Bostwick said. “We have a really young team. A really good team with a great group of seniors. I think we are going to have a great season.”

While the start of the Class 5A Jeffco League play is more than a month away, winning a conference title is something that is on the minds of the Rebels.

“It’s there the whole season,” Bostwick said of thoughts of winning the 5A Jeffco title. “We obviously want to make it all the way to state. Winning that league title will give us the confidence to where we really need to be.”

The Rebels haven’t claimed the conference title since winning five in a row from 2014 to 2018. Ralston Valley has is looking for a third straight league title. The Mustangs haven’t loss a league game since the 2023 season.