Evergreen girls soccer erases 2-goal deficit to grab win over Golden at NAAC

ARVADA — Evergreen girls soccer team showed the pedigree of a two-time defending state champion Tuesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

The back-to-back Class 4A state champions faced a 2-0 halftime deficit to Golden in a big 4A Jeffco League game at the NAAC. The Cougars responded in the second half with four unanswered goals to eventually take a 4-3 victory to stay atop the conference standings.

“Personally, I thought our effort and intensity wasn’t there,” Evergreen senior captain Gianna Weiner said of the 2-goal deficit. “I think definitely getting on our players in an effective and constructive criticism way because I know what we are capable of. That first half was not what we are capable of. The ideas were there, but not the execution and intensity on wanting to press and score goals wasn’t there.”

Weiner started the avalanche of goals with her first of two goals two minutes in the second half. Fellow senior Nadia Leunig scored four minutes later to tie things up 2-2 in the 46th minute.

“My confidence has been a little low when it comes to finishing, but Elle (Buenning) told me today to be confident, take a good first touch,” Leunig said of her goal fourth goal of the season. “When I saw Gianna play me the ball and the (defender) was on her heels I knew I could get around her and get off a good shot.”

The commit to play soccer and ski at Michaels College is closing in on 50 career goals during her decorated career with the Cougars.

“We told everyone it doesn’t have to be pretty. It doesn’t have to be beautiful with perfect technique,” Leunig said of Evergreen’s second-half surge. “You are winning the ball. You are cleaning the ball and staying composed. I think that is what allowed us to be sharper and more aggressive in the second half.”

Evergreen took the lead for good in the 69th minute. A corner kick from Weiner eventually found the foot of freshman Zoe Yoho, who fired a hard shot through traffic that beat Golden goalie Zoe Schroder.

“We’ve been talking about getting second chances off my corner kicks,” Weiner said. “We are challenging the first ball, but the second ball is just bouncing. She (Yoho) is a really great player and had a quality finish.”

The second goal of the season for the freshman couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cougars, who had to except a 0-0 scoreless draw against Standley Lake in their last trip to NAAC on April 7.

“She was Player of the Game,” Jeans said of Yoho. “She was playing center back and in the end she was our solo center back. She was our Cougar of the game. Zoe was awesome.”

Weiner gave the Cougars (6-1-3 record, 6-0-1 in league) some insurance with a penalty kick goal in the 71st minute for a 4-2 lead. However, Golden (6-4, 4-2) wasn’t ready to concede.

Golden senior Carly Reed hard shot from close range on Evergreen junior goalie Avery Mahnken just got over the goal line to cut the Cougars’ advantage to 4-3 with 44 seconds left in the game. Evergreen didn’t allow another scoring chance in the final seconds to preserve the victory.

“That isn’t a team that is going to give up,” Weiner said of the Demons scoring with 44 second remaining to make it a 1-goal game late. “She knew that from the start.”

Golden got out to a 2-0 lead in the first half. Senior Leah Welte found the back of the net in the 23rd minute to give the Demons a 1-0 lead. Golden extended its lead with a goal on a penalty kick with 1.8 seconds left before halftime. Senior Hadley Nauslar put it past Mahnken.

“It was a correctly decided PK and (Golden) finished it. The timing of that was terrible,” said Jeans, who added that he liked how his team played the final 15 minutes of the first half. “We played so well and then go into halftime down 2-0 totally down, but the girls responded. They have resilience, fire and fight in them.”

The Demons were coming off three straight shutout league victories. Golden outscored Pomona, D’Evelyn and Bear Creek a combined 28-0.

Golden continues a busy week with a non-league game Thursday at Lutheran before facing Littleton on Friday night back at NAAC.

“My hats off to Golden. They played unbelievable,” Jeans said. “Perhaps they deserved better from this game, but I’m really glad with how my girls responded.”

Evergreen is scheduled to host D’Evelyn up at Evergreen High School on Friday, April 17. The Cougars will likely have the chance to clinch back-to-back league titles next week in its home match against Wheat Ridge on Tuesday, April 21.

Green Mountain (8-1-1, 6-1-0) is the closest to Evergreen in the conference standings, but the Cougars have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rams having defeated Green Mountain 1-0 in the league opener back on March 17.