Evergreen girls soccer defeats rival Conifer to wins 9th straight, wraps up league title

EVERGREEN — Evergreen’s soccer program accomplished something Tuesday night that escaped the Cougars last season.

Evergreen’s 7-0 victory against rival Conifer at Evergreen High School clinched the Class 4A Jeffco League title in the Cougars’ conference finale.

“We feel like it’s the best conference in the state. It is really challenging to win the conference,” Evergreen coach Peter Jeans said of 4A Jeffco. “I think there will be six playoff teams from our conference this year. Unbelievable accomplishment for these girls.”

Despite winning the 4A state championship a year ago, Evergreen didn’t win the league title. In 2024, D’Evelyn, Golden and Evergreen all finished with a 7-1 conference record. D’Evelyn won the 3-way tiebreaker — goals allowed during league play — to win the league title.

“It feels great. 4A Jeffco is one of the hardest leagues in Colorado, hands down,” Evergreen junior Nadia Leunig said. “There are so many of us in the playoffs each year. It feels good to put ourselves on top with good momentum going into the playoffs.”

Evergreen (11-1-2, 9-0-1 in league) had back-to-back ties against Northfield and Green Mountain over a month ago. The only other blemish was a 4-1 loss to Ralston Valley, who is currently the top-ranked 5A team and 5A Jeffco League champions.

The Cougars are on a 9-game winning streak since the loss to Ralston Valley on March 31.

“The big thing was the team culture and energy,” Leunig said. “At the beginning of the season it is kind of hard and you start off slow. As the season went on we got more confident in each other. We had more trust in each other. That led to more victories that we really needed to win league.”

Evergreen ended up outscoring its league opponents 54-6.

Conifer (4-8-1, 1-6-0) only trailed 3-0 at halftime, but junior Cameron Wedding scored a pair of goals to open up the second half to extend the lead to 5-0. An own-goal and goal by senior Lucia Spungin gave the Cougars the 7-0 win.

“Conifer is such a special game,” said Nuala Hart, who was one of six seniors recognized on Senior Night for the Cougars. “All the girls get to play. It is fun to see everyone touch the field, especially for the seniors. Some of us have been on varsity for years, but some just came up to varsity this year.”

Senior Abby Atlas got the scoring going with a chip shot over Conifer freshman goalie Gemma Johnson in the 11th minute. Sophomore Elle Buenning scored in the 21st minute to give Evergreen a 2-0 lead. The first of two own-goal pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 31st minute.

Evergreen has one more regular-season game on the road against Air Academy on Friday, May 2, in Colorado Springs before turning its attention to defending its 4A state title.

“It might be a little different,” Wedding said of being the defending state champions and likely being the No. 1 seed. “I’m sure we are going to got it really hard and try to win. We are a very strong team.”

Jeans is confident in his team’s leadership that including several returners from last year’s playoff run. Leunig, Wedding and junior Gianna Weiner were three of Evergreen’s top four goal scorers a season ago.

“They know that we’ve been on the top all year, but there are teams trying to knock us off the pedestal,” Jeans said. “We need to get better every day.”

Evergreen is currently No. 1 in the CHSAA Seeding & Selection Index. There is a very good chance the Cougars will be the top seed when the 4A state bracket is reveled Saturday, May 4.

“Last year was super special being a No. 14 seed,” Hart said of Evergreen’s run to the program’s third state title and first since 1997. “This year coming in as the No. 1 seed I don’t think we’ll feel pressure. We feel the confidence and we feel composed. We know what it takes to be there and play the top teams. We feel like we have the experience to go to that state championship game and win.”

First-round games are scheduled for Wednesday, May 7. There is a good chance 4A Jeffco will have Evergreen, Green Mountain, Golden and Dakota Ridge all host opening round games.