Evergreen & Mullen to battle for 4A girls soccer title Tuesday in Colorado Springs

HIGHLANDS RANCH — Evergreen’s girls soccer is a victory away from a 3-peat.

The two-time defending Class 4A state champions will have a chance for a third straight title when it takes the pitch Tuesday, May 19, at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs. 

“It sounds really good,” Evergreen senior Gianna Weiner said of the Cougars one win away from a 3-peat. “Honestly, we started the season in a bit of a slump. I think we are starting to build and I’m proud of the intensity we had today. I’m really excited to see what we can do on Tuesday.”

No. 6-seeded Evergreen defeated No. 2 Rampart 3-2 on Thursday night at Highlands Ranch Stadium at Redstone to advance the Cougars to a third consecutive 4A title game. 

“It is so exciting,” Evergreen senior Cameron Wedding said of the possible 3-peat. “I’m so glad we’ve made it this far. I’m so glad I made it this far with this team. It’s a really big deal and I hope we can come home with another state championship.”

Evergreen (14-2-3 record) showed its offensive prowess early with three goals in the opening 23 minutes. 

“That was huge. I think it is so important to get goals early on because it sets the tone of the game,” Wedding said of the Cougars getting up 3-0 midway through the first half. “The other team starts panicking and not really playing their game as well.”

Wedding put the Cougars on the board in the 12th minute as a pass from senior Nadia Leunig that Wedding ran up on and slipped the ball past Rampart sophomore goalie Joslyn Tronnes. 

“We exploited one weakness and the kids finished three really good goals,” Evergreen coach Peter Jeans said. “They made them look easy. We have been hit or miss sometimes in the playoffs. Today we came out really ready to play. We played awesome and then we hung on for dear life. (Rampart) is a fantastic team.”

Five minutes later, Weiner was at the right place at the right time. The ball found Weiner on the far post and put in her 19th goal of the season to put the Cougars up 2-0. Evergreen pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 23rd minute with a header goal by junior Elle Buenning off a corner kick by Weiner. 

“At the beginning of the season we were having troubles finishing,” Weiner admitted. “We kept working at it. We kind of broke that slump of not having great first halves. We have been finishing more corner kicks recently.”

Rampart (15-3) did put some offensive pressure in the final minutes before halftime. Evergreen sophomore defender Izzy Clark was able to clear the ball off the goal line and Rampart freshman Aubrie Smith hit the far post on a shot in the 25th minute.

The Rams did get on the scoreboard in the 31st minute with a goal from senior Natalie Mayo to make it a 3-1 game at halftime. Evergreen junior goalie Avery Mahnken made a handful of saves to prevent Rampart to cutting the Cougars’ lead. 

“I think our defense was the main part of this game to be honest with you,” Weiner said. “Rampart’s offense is very good. The second you think you are ahead against they are going to catch you. Our defense handled it amazingly.”

Rampart senior Brooklynn Pollmiller scored off a header with 6 seconds left on the clock to make the final score 3-2. The Cougars didn’t do much outward celebrating after the game finished a little after 9 p.m. It has been a long day for most players with Evergreen High School having its graduation earlier in the day.

“Specials players and this senior class has a lot of heart,” Jeans said. “It’s really challenging to motivate and keep your focus on the game at hand, not think about all the pressure that is on the team to 3-peat. But now we are here and one last game. We can go out, have fun and we know we are playing another great team. We just have to put one more together.”

It will be the fifth state championship game since 2019 for the Cougars. Evergreen was the 4A state runner-up in 2019 and 2021 before the back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025.

Mullen 3, Windsor 0

No. 12-seeded Mullen managed its fourth straight postseason shutout victory to advance to the 4A championship match.

The Mustangs shut out No. 9 Windsor 3-0 in the first semifinal at Highlands Ranch Stadium at Redstone. The lone goal in the first half off the foot of senior Katie Luzietti. 

Mullen (12-4-3 record) got a pair of insurance goals late in the second half. Senior Greta Denler scored in the 68th minute to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead. A corner kick by senior Steffi Thomas found the head of sophomore Lily Jotte in the 72nd minute to push the lead to 3-0.

Windsor (13-4-2) was the 4A state runner-ups a season ago. 

It will be the Mustangs’ first trip to a girls soccer state championship game since Mullen won the 5A title back in 2007. Mullen also has three 4A state titles — 2002, 2001 and 1998 — to its credit.