ARVADA — A double-overtime 2-1 loss to Chatfield last season cost Ralston Valley’s girls soccer team the Class 5A Jeffco League championship.
“That loss in overtime was brutal,” Ralston Valley junior Holly Engelking said of last year’s loss to the Chargers. “Part of our pregame speech was we had to get on them early.”
The Mustangs got a measure of revenge Tuesday night on a windy pitch at the North Area Athletic Complex. Ralston Valley took a 3-1 victory to stay undefeated in conference play heading into likely the biggest league game of season.
“We have been right in a running,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said of the Mustangs’ decade-long drought from their last league title in 2013. “They want it really bad.”
The Mustangs captured six straight Jeffco 10 (4A Jeffco) girls soccer titles from 2002 to 2007, but have just captured one league title since moving up to the 5A classification more than a decade ago.
Photo by Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
Ralston Valley (8-2-1, 3-0 in league) will have a huge 5A Jeffco showdown against Valor Christian (5-1-1, 2-0) at 8 p.m. Friday, April 19, in Highlands Ranch. The winner will be in the driver’s seat for the conference title heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
Valor and Ralston Valley played to a 1-1 double-overtime draw last season. The Eagles staked claim to their third straight 5A Jeffco League title with a 5-0-2 conference record in 2023.
“I’m just super excited to play Valor,” Ralston Valley senior Raleigh Greason said of the monster league game Friday. “They are a really good team.”
Ralston Valley has some good momentum with a 5-game winning streak and kept the good vibes going early against Chatfield. Engelking gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead 39 seconds into the game when her direct free kick bounced into the top far corner of the net.
“I’ve scored off a few of them this season,” Engelking said of her goal on the direct free kick from near midfield in the opening minute. “I was hoping one of my teammates could get a touch on it. It took a big bounce and went into the upper nine. I actually hit it toward the front post and it shifted all the way to the far post.”
Greason sealed the victory in the second half with her 22nd and 23rd goals of the season. The leading goal scorer in 5A used the wind to score back-to-back goals to push Ralston Valley’s lead to 3-0.
The junior beat Chatfield goalie Aly Green in almost the exact same spot on hard shots that edged inside the far post.
“I just knew I had to hit it as hard I could,” Greason said of her back-to-back goals three minutes apart in the second half. “I was trying to get it to that back post.”
Chatfield (3-6-1, 1-2) prevented the shutout with junior Harper Roser scoring in the 78th minute for the lone goal for the Chargers. Chatfield will try to end its 2-game league losing streak when it faces Pomona (1-10, 0-3) on Friday night at Lakewood Memorial Field.
