LONGMONT — So the Northern League girls soccer regular-season title will come down to what happens in Silver Creek’s final game against Centaurus on Wednesday after all.
At home on Monday, the Silver Creek Raptors (12-0-2, 5-0-1 Northern) won 1-0 against Northridge (10-4, 5-2 Northern) in a game they needed to win in order to keep their bid for at least a share of the league championship alive. With one conference game left to play, Monday’s win against Northridge kept the Raptors unbeaten in league play alongside the Niwot Cougars (10-3-1, 6-0-1 Northern), who have already played out their conference schedule.
Both the Raptors and Cougars have allowed just one goal in league play, so Silver Creek will have to be close to perfect in its season finale to avoid getting squeezed out in a tiebreaker.
“(Northridge has) a lot of speed up top which caused a lot of problems for our defense but we were really solid at the back,” Raptors junior Colleen Tyrrell said. “It was hard to get any offensive mojo going but once Greta (Goldsberry) got the goal, we all loosened up and started to play a lot better. We’ve been playing really well lately and it’s good for us to be playing good soccer against tough teams at this point in the season.”
The Northridge Grizzlies promised to put up a fight as the third team in the league title mix until picking up their only two Northern League losses while having to play both Niwot and Silver Creek in the span of less than a week. As expected, Monday’s game was a scoreless stalemate until Raptors junior Greta Goldsberry scored the game’s lone goal in the 19th minute off an assist from teammate Annika Kassenbrock.
“It was a tough game,” Silver Creek head coach Rob Johnson said. “They had nine in the box all day so it was tough to get behind them. But it’s another great win for us and we’ve got Centaurus on Wednesday so we’re just looking to keep rolling.”
Monday’s deciding score was Goldsberry’s eighth goal of the season.
In the final week of the 2018 campaign, the Raptors are set up for a strong finish at No. 3 in Class 4A according to the CHSAANow.com poll and No. 11 in the 4A RPI standings. Wednesday’s game against Centaurus is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Even knowing full well what’s on the line, Tyrrell said the Raptors aren’t feeling any added to pressure to do anything more than what’s gotten them to this point.
“You know, we’re just trying to take it one game at a time and get our business done,” Tyrrell said. “We’re really looking forward to playoffs but we’re not looking past anyone either. We’ve been taking it one game at a time all season and that has worked so that’s what going to keep doing.”
Brad Cochi: cochib@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/BradCochi
Silver Creek 1, Northridge 0
At Silver Creek H.S.
Northridge (10-4, 5-2)00—0
Silver Creek (12-0-2, 5-0-1) 10—1
Goals (assists) — Silver Creek: Greta Goldsberry (Annika Kassenbrock), 19th minute.
Goalies (Min-Goals allowed-Saves) — Northridge: Riley Fuhrmann (80-1-5); Silver Creek: Kaeyla Noble (80-0-2).
