Columbine & Ralston Valley scoreless draw gives Valor girls soccer 5A Jeffco title
Photo: Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Sports Information
ARVADA — The girls soccer Class 5A Jeffco League was on the line Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The scenarios were pretty clear cut. Ralston Valley needed to get the win over Columbine to claim a third straight conference title. Any other result, Valor Christian (6-5-1 record, 4-1 in league) would win the 5A Jeffco League crown.
A 0-0 draw between the Mustangs and Rebels ended Ralston Valley’s hope of the three-peat. Valor captured its first conference title since its three-peat from 2021 to 2023.
“I’m pretty angry right now,” Ralston Valley junior Lauren Sabus said after the draw. “I’ve got to put that toward scoring more and getting wins so we can get ready for state (tournament).”
The Mustangs’ leading goal scorer this season nearly gave Ralston Valley the lead in the second half, but her shot hit the crossbar.
“I thought it was going in. That is like the sixth time I’ve hit cross bar when we could have win or tied,” Sabus said. “It is pretty disappointing.”
Ralston Valley (8-1-3, 3-0-2) finished second behind Valor, despite defeating Valor 2-1 in the league game last week. A scoreless ties against Chatfield last week ended up costing the Mustangs.
“It looked like the crossbar again was on their (Columbine’s) side,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said. “I don’t know what more you can do. We had the crosses. We had the foot on the ball. We just couldn’t get the power behind them to put it into the back of the net.”
Remarkably, Ralston Valley has giving up just two goals all season, but the Mustangs also have scored just five goals in their last five games which include three scoreless draws.
“I don’t think our offensive has played up to its full potential,” Sabus said. “I think defensively our team is really, really good. We need to work on our offense.”
The Plus-2 5A Jeffco League Tournament that gives each of the six teams in the conference two extra non-league games before the start of the postseason begins Monday, April 27.
The match-ups will be No. 3 Columbine at No. 1 Valor. No. 4 Arvada West versus No. 2 Ralston Valley at NAAC. No. 6 Lakewood vs No. 5 Chatfield at Lakewood Memorial Field.
Day 2 games of the tournament will be played Thursday, April 30.
“Character is all about how you respond,” Coach Morwood said after falling short of the league three-peat. “I want them to enjoy their prom this weekend. Come back on Monday, dig deep and show that grit that we’ve a lot talked about. Continue to put it together like we know we can.”
Columbine (7-1-4, 2-1-2) could have set up a winner-take all situation for the league title Thursday night, but a 2-1 loss at Valor on Tuesday ended the Rebels’ chances for the league title. Instead, all Columbine could do was help out Valor.
“Brett and I have been good friends for a while,” Todd said of Valor girls soccer coach Brett O’Connor. “I’ll be expecting some kind of thank you for helping them out. It was a great game today. Congrats to Valor.”
Todd described Columbine’s lone loss of the season so far as ‘one of our worst efforts of the year’ in the road loss to Valor. Getting the tie against Ralston Valley gave Columbine some renewed hope heading into the tail end of the regular season.
“I think we can hang with just about anybody when we are at our best,” Todd said. “I think we showed that today. I felt like we had enough in the tank and did enough to get a better result than a tie, but sometimes that is how soccer goes.”
Columbine’s best scoring chance came in the second half. Junior Mackenzie McCoy had a shot from the edge of the post, but Ralston Valley senior defender Sammi Madden was able to get to the ball just before it crossed the goal line.
Getting the rematch against Valor back in Highlands Ranch is something Todd welcomed.
“Hopefully this propels us into next week with those two extra games,” Todd said. “It will give us more confidence when we face more teams like Ralston Valley. All in all, I think like today was good, except for not finding a way to score a goal and find a way to win.”
