Monarch's Sophia Stalter (left) kicks the ball past Silver Creek's Fatima Ordonez during a cold soccer game at Silver Creek High School on April 19, 2024. (Cliff Grasmick/Staff Photographer)
Longmont — Monarch senior Sophia Stalter had a great performance Friday afternoon against Silver Creek.
For the second straight season, Colorado Mesa's team found comfort in wintry conditions that forced most spectators to layer up in blankets and jackets against the Raptors.
He scored a career-high four goals in an overtime win over Silver Creek a year ago, helping the postseason-hungry Coyotes bounce back from three shutout losses and earn a much-needed 8-1 win. Contributed.
“I don't know, but this is the second time we've played in the snow. It's fun,” she said as snowflakes stuck to her face and host Silver Creek's sense of humor played Christmas songs overhead. Mr. Stalter said this while the music was playing. “It's snowing, but you're playing with your friends. It's so much fun.”
As if it were a long-standing tradition, Stalter will once again use the third Friday in April to end her and her team's scoring drought and perhaps serve as a springboard for another advance in the postseason. became.
The Monarchs (4-6-1) currently sit 36th in the Class 5A CHSAA selection and seeding index, which is used to determine the 32 teams in the postseason field, which begins in two weeks.
“We've been trying really hard this season and it just hasn't worked out,” Coyotes coach Katie Wood said. The team was recently wiped out by Legacy, Boulder, and Fairview within 24 hours. “Coming here, we were really tired from last night's game against Fairview. To come out here and get back on track and feel each other out…that's what we really needed.”
Stalter was having fun. Also.
Last spring against Silver Creek, the fourth-year starter appeared in front of a backdrop that looked like someone had turned out the lights and shaken a snow globe, scoring all of the team's goals in a 4-3 overtime victory.
After scoring a walk-off win in the 89th minute, her face relaxed enough to break into a smile. What a great way to end the Coyotes' scoreless streak of over 260 minutes. And in hindsight, that was the season-defining thing, as her team was able to earn the final seed in the 5A playoff field.
Now that she has scored for the first time in three games, she hopes it will lead to a similar result.
“I think coming through a few losses and not having anyone on the team score made us even more hungry to win,” said Stalter, who scored 11 goals on the year. “I hope this will help us move higher in the rankings.”
The Coyotes took the lead with Stalter's feed from Kami Ayander in the 16th minute and will aim to move up the rankings next week against No. 5 Bloomfield and No. 51 Northglenn. The next three goals came after halftime.
Ayander added two goals of his own, while Sania Gundbir and Kiki McQueen also contributed to the win.
Meanwhile, Silver Creek (4-4) lost its second consecutive game on Monday with a 2-0 loss to No. 12 Windsor in 4A. Junior Erin Stockwell scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season in the loss.
The Raptors, like the Monarchs, are ranked 41st in 4A and are currently out of the playoff picture. But they also have time to push.
It will host No. 8 Thompson Valley on Saturday at noon.
“The difficult thing for us is that as a team, we kind of break down and keep breaking down. We're just trying to find some confidence,” Silver Creek coach Rob Johnson said. “Hopefully we'll have a little more confidence tomorrow. Come back, have a clean slate and hopefully don't make the same mistakes and let one or two girls beat us.”
The regular season for women's soccer ends on May 4th.