Fort Collins – Consider Fossil Ridge officially on the map.
The SaberCats were merely a dot last year, but now the third-year Fort Collins-based girls soccer team is in bold letters. Fossil Ridge improved to 3-0 on Saturday, hanging on to beat Class 4A’s fourth-ranked Greeley West Spartans 2-1 in a cross-divisional Northern League game.
“Coming into the season we knew we underachieved last year, and we wanted to take full advantage of the talent we had,” said Fossil Ridge coach Francesco Miceli, whose team went 7-6-2 last season and missed the playoffs. “We set our goals game by game and just try to excel. We did that today.”
An offense that had produced 24 goals in its first two games appeared to still be clicking early on against a Spartans team that because of weather and basketball commitments was playing its first game of the spring. Brianna Guzzardo had a shot hit the outside of the post just more than a minute into the match.
A defensive lapse led to the SaberCats’ first goal in the 27th minute. A turnover went right to the foot of Kayla Ham, and the sophomore midfielder made a move to empty space on the right side of the defender and beat Greeley West keeper Klarissa Harter low to the far post.
“For us to keep that offensive production going against a team like Greeley West is great to see,” Miceli said.
Moments later, Fossil Ridge appeared to take a 2-0 lead, but Ayla Fowler’s goal was disallowed after she was ruled offside.
Redemption for Fowler came early in the second half. The junior took a perfectly timed through ball from Guzzardo and found herself one-on-one with Harter. She finished it off to give the SaberCats a 2-0 lead.
“This is a really big win, because we’ve been working on jelling as a team, and today we really did that,” said Fowler, who netted her fourth goal of the season.
Greeley West finally shook off the rust and possessed the ball with a greater frequency as the game wore on. The Hemmings sisters, Audrey and Sara, combined to put the Spartans, who are in the process of implementing a new offensive scheme this season, on the board in the 56th minute.
The duo nearly evened the game in the 61st, but SaberCats goalie Krista Brien came up with the biggest save of the game, diving to her right to rob Audrey Hemmings.
“Shaking off the rust and learning to play a new system is where we need to get better,” Greeley West coach Mike Lordemann said. “We created some chances and gave ourselves some opportunities down the stretch, which is all you can ask for the first time out against a really good team.”
Greeley West 0 1 – 1
Fossil Ridge 1 1 – 2
Goals – FR: Ham (unassisted), 27th minute; Fowler (Guzzardo), 47th; GW: A. Hemmings (S. Hemmings), 56th.
Shots on goal – Greeley West 1-4 – 5; Fossil Ridge 5-4 – 9. Saves – Greeley West (Harter) 4-3 – 7; Fossil Ridge (Brien) 1-3 – 4. Corner kicks – Greeley West 1-1 – 2; Fossil Ridge 3-2 – 5. Offsides – Greeley West 0-0 – 0; Fossil Ridge 1-0 – 1. Fouls – Greeley West 2-1 – 3; Fossil Ridge 8-3 – 11.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
