LAKEWOOD — The race to the girls soccer Class 4A Jeffco League title over the next three weeks is going to have multiple facets.
A year after Dakota Ridge ran the table to win the conference title and went onto win the 4A state title, this year’s race has multiple contenders vying for the league title.
“In Jeffco, anybody can beat anybody on any given day,” Green Mountain coach Bari Abuhadema said after the Rams defeated the defending league and state champion Dakota Ridge Eagles 3-0 on Monday night at Lakewood Memorial Field. “I like our chances. We have to stay healthy.”
Abuhadema believes that six of the nine teams in the 4A Jeffco League will qualify for the 32-team 4A state tournament that begins May 8.
Green Mountain (5-1-1, 2-1 in league) handed Dakota Ridge (5-3-1, 2-1) its first conference loss of the season. D’Evelyn (5-2-1, 4-0) is the lone remaining undefeated team in the conference, but the Jaguars still have tough games left with Evergreen, Dakota Ridge and Green Mountain remaining.
The Jaguars recorded their fifth straight shutout with a 2-0 victory over Standley Lake following Green Mountain’s win at LMF on Monday night.
Photo by Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
“We just have to come out hard and play well as a team,” Green Mountain junior Alyssa Hamilton said of the Rams’ final five league games over the next three weeks. “We all have to be connected. If we do that I think we have a chance.”
Hamilton has a chance to be the leading goal scorer in 4A Jeffco this season. The junior already has a double-double this season with 11 goals and 10 assists in seven games this season.
“She wants to score goals,” Abuhadema said of Hamilton, who tallied her 10th and 11th goal of the season Monday night. “When you have a player like that you can’t hold her back. I tell her to take as many shots as you want. She has the green light.”
Green Mountain held a 1-0 lead over Dakota Ridge going in to the second half. Hamilton put the game out of reach with goals in the 56th and 72nd minutes to push the lead to 3-0.
Hamilton’s second goal was impressive as she dribbled the ball across the top of the Eagles’ goal box before firing a shot.
“She (Hamilton) is a special player,” Abuhadema said of the Rams’ leading scorer. “She loves the game. She is passionate about the game. I love watching her play. We are lucky to have her.”
Green Mountain got out to a 1-0 lead with a goal by sophomore Charlize Ellsworth in the 9th minute. Ellsworth was able to track down a long pass and tap in her sixth goal of the season.
“It settled us in,” Hamilton said of Ellsworth’s goal in the 9th minute. “We were very chaotic in the beginning.”
Chaos might be how to describe the race to the league title when all is said and done. D’Evelyn has a 1-game lead over Evergreen, Green Mountain, Dakota Ridge and Golden with 5 league games remaining for most teams.
“It’s to win league,” Hamilton said of the Rams’ goal. “Last year, as a team we thought we could win league and obviously it didn’t happen. Our goal is to win league and do better in the playoffs then we did the year before.”
Green Mountain heads to the North Area Athletic Complex to face Standley Lake (6-3-1, 1-2) at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18. Dakota Ridge is back at LMF on Thursday to host Littleton at 7 p.m.
