Cherry Hills Village – With the front door sufficiently barricaded, the Kent Denver Sun Devils went around to the side.
That changed everything.
The top-ranked Sun Devils finally stretched the St. Mary’s Academy defense Saturday by playing the ball down the flanks to key a 3-1 Class 3A Metropolitan League victory at Justin DeSorrento Memorial Field.
Junior Sarah Jacobs opened the scoring nine minutes before halftime, and Marsha Harper and Suzanne Stawiarski scored within two minutes of each other in the second half as the Sun Devils (6-1, 4-0) remained undefeated against 3A competition.
“I guess I just had some good crosses today, luckily,” said sophomore forward Erin McGonagle, who assisted on Kent Denver’s first two goals. “I got some really great passes to me in the corners. We really focused a lot on getting it to the end line and crossing it in this season.”
The seventh-ranked Wildcats (5-1, 2-1) were stout defensively in the middle of the field when allowed to get in position in front of standout goalie Katie Bell.
After having numerous half-chances blocked and their first five shots saved, the Sun Devils broke through in the 31st minute and made it 3-0 on their next two shots.
“Our goal was to try to pack it in a little bit and then try to look for some breakaways, but they just didn’t materialize,” Wildcats coach Dan Weiss said.
All-state senior Beth Tatlock scored a consolation goal for the Wildcats with four minutes remaining.
St. Mary’s Academy 0 1 – 1
Kent Denver 1 2 – 3
Goals – KD: Jacobs (McGonagle), 31st minute; Harper (McGonagle), 50th; Stawiarski (unassisted), 52nd; SMA: Tatlock (unassisted), 76th.
Shots on goal – St. Mary’s Academy 0-2 – 2; Kent Denver 6-4 – 10. Saves – St. Mary’s Academy (Bell) 5-2 – 7; Kent Denver (Dix) 0-1 – 1. Offsides – St. Mary’s Academy 0-0 – 0; Kent Denver 1-0 – 1. Corner kicks – St. Mary’s Academy 1-0 – 1; Kent Denver 5-3 – 8. Fouls – St. Mary’s Academy 3-4 – 7; Kent Denver 2-3 – 5. Yellow card – Endres, SMA, 67th minute.
