Two goals inside 19 minutes had Thomas Jefferson off to a dream start Tuesday night at All-City Stadium.
George Washington just called it a head start.
George Washington roared back with seven unanswered goals, four by Alex Koloskus as the Class 5A Patriots wrapped up the Denver Prep League title in girls soccer with a commanding 7-2 victory.
Koloskus notched her hat trick in a 15-minute span and then added a fourth goal in the 78th minute when she fired a hot shot from the left side.
The speedy Patriots struggled against TJ’s flat-back four defense that caught the Patriots offside 11 times, eight in the first half. The Patriots adjusted their long passing in the second half, getting free behind the defense and outscoring the Spartans 5-0.
We finally figured it out in the second half,” Koloskus said. “If we just waited three steps behind them, we could take those runs.”
Lauren Schumacher scored twice and Roz Klann added another in the 51st minute as the Patriots won their fifth straight game and improved to 10-4 overall and 8-0 in the DPL.
Midfielder Taryn Tung had two assists for the Patriots. Thomas Jefferson forward Jenny Maston scored both goals for the Spartans (7-6, 6-2). The Patriots had not surrendered a goal to a DPL opponent since April 2004.
Maston’s first goal in the eighth minute was a leaping redirection of a cross from midfielder Chrissy Graves. Ten minutes later, Maston gathered in a pass from Auria Burdick and slammed another ball past goalie Annie Johnston.
I knew as soon as we got up two that we can’t get too ahead of ourselves because they can score anytime,” Maston said. “They’re that type of team.”
Thomas Jefferson goalkeeper Isabel Ranney made four early saves to keep the Patriots at bay before Schumacher scored in the 29thminute to get the Patriots on track.
They knew they had it in them,” George Washington coach David Weiss said of his players. “I knew they had it in them.Wejust needed to fire up a little bit.”
Koloskus hit the equalizer in the 35th minute from the penalty spot after a TJ player handled the ball in the penalty area. Koloskus scored two minutes into the second half and hit her hat trick in the 50th minute to put the Patriots ahead 4-2.
ThomasJefferson 2 0 2
GeorgeWashington 2 5 7
Goals TJ: Maston (Graves), 8th minute; Maston
(Burdick), 18th; GW: Schumacher (T. Tung),
29th; Koloskus (penalty), 35th; Koloskus (K.
Tung), 42nd; Koloskus (T. Tung), 50th; Klann (Koloskus),
51st; Schumacher (unassisted), 58th;
Koloskus (unassisted), 78th. Shots on goal Thomas
Jefferson 3-0 3; George Washington 7-9
16. Saves Thomas Jefferson (Ranney) 5-4
9; George Washington (Johnston) 1-0 1. Offsides
Thomas Jefferson 0-0 0; George Washington
8-3 11. Corner kicks Thomas Jefferson
0-1 1; George Washington 1-0 1. Fouls
Thomas Jefferson 7-5 12; George Washington
2-5 7. Yellow card Lust, TJ, 48th minute.
