Evergreen girls soccer wins wild 4A state quarterfinal against Riverdale Ridge

EVERGREEN — The two-time defending Class 4A girls soccer state champions passed a hard, physical test Tuesday night at Evergreen High School.

No. 6-seeded Evergreen was eventually able to turn out the lights and silence No. 19 Riverdale Ridge’s underdog run in the state tournament. The Cougars edged the visiting Ravens 4-3 to punch Evergreen’s ticket to the 4A state semifinals that will be played Thursday, May 14, at Highlands Ranch Stadium at Redstone.

“When we were in the locker room before the game we talked about (Riverdale Ridge) coming out being aggressive and in your face,” Evergreen senior Nadia Leunig said. “I generally have never played a team like that. You really have to step into a different mindset and tune everything out. Not let anything they do worry you.”

Riverdale Ridge (11-4-2 record) used some physical marking tactics, especially on Leunig and senior Gianna Weiner. The Cougars’ leading scorers came in with a combined 31 goals and 24 assists. 

Evergreen (13-2-3) got out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal from senior Cameron Wedding off a great feed from senior Olivia Orton in the 2nd minute. The Ravens answered with a goal from junior Molly Wilkinson off a corner kick from senior Brie Hilliker in the 9th minute to even things up 1-1.

The Cougars responded with a goal from junior Elle Buenning heading in a goal off a corner kick from Weiner in the 32nd minute. A few minutes later Wedding scored her second goal of the half off an assist from Leunig to give Evergreen a 3-1 lead at halftime.

“We just found the good parts of the net,” Wedding said of the Cougars putting in four goals in the back of the net.

Wilkinson gave Riverdale Ridge life in the second half. The junior, who finished her season with 31 goals on the season, scored in the 53rd and 56th minutes to tie the game at 3-3.

“(Wilkinson) is a very dangerous player. She was really good,” Leunig said. “I think we’ve had trouble in the past of just shutting players down. I just needed to put a little more pressure on her so she couldn’t just look up and have space to do something with the ball.”

The Ravens’ bench and fans came alive with having Evergreen on the ropes. 

“It was a different environment,” Leunig said. “You have their players screaming. Their coaches screaming. It is good that we know how to win under high stakes.”

Leunig gave the lead back to Evergreen in the 61st minute. Her low shot to the far post couldn’t be handled by a diving save attempt by Riverdale Ridge goalie Camden Holmes. 

With a 4-3 lead, Evergreen coach Peter Jeans moved Leunig closer to Wilkinson to make sure she wouldn’t score her fourth goal to tie the game up again. The plan worked.

“We gave up two corner kick goals. They were poorly defended to be honest,” Jeans said. “I wanted Nadia be closer to those where she could defend. You saw her win about five headers. That was big time and why we are heading to the semifinals.”

Next up for Evergreen will be No. 2 Rampart. The Rams (15-2) defeated Cheyenne Mountain 2-1 on Monday night. The semifinal will be played at either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m in Highlands Ranch. The other semifinal will feature No. 12 Mullen and No. 9 Windsor.