Fort Collins – Shhh. Listen quietly, and you can hear the Rocky Mountain girls soccer team sneaking up on you.
Overshadowed by their crosstown rivals at Fort Collins for years, the Lobos on Tuesday night drew one step closer to their first league crown since sharing it with the Lambkins in 2001, dispatching of yet another Choice City rival, Poudre, 3-0 at J. Ray French Field.
All that remains for Rocky Mountain (10-1-0, 7-0 in league), ranked No. 5 in The Denver Post’s Class 5A poll, to claim the Front Range League title is to beat or tie the Lambkins next Tuesday.
“Our goal is to obviously go as far as we can,” said Lobos coach Cheryl Ingham, whose team’s lone defeat was to Fort Collins 3-0 in the first game of the season. “Next Tuesday, that will be our chance to show if we can do it.”
A relatively balanced field early on slowly began to tilt Rocky’s way midway through the first half. Several quality chances, including Lauren Cathey’s shot that was pushed over the bar by Impalas keeper Carly Swisher, had the Lobos sensing a goal.
The resulting corner kick proved to be the answer.
Alison Kenney’s boot from the flag sailed to the far post, where defender Estelle John- son outjumped two Poudre defenders and headed it home just inside the near post past Swisher.
“We always try to look for one another, and Alison (who later netted her own goal) can basically put them wherever she wants,” said John- son, who will play next season at Kansas. “All you really have to do is let it hit you, and that’s what I did.”
Rocky added one more before the halftime whistle. Leading scorer Kelli Breidenbach was just a step faster than a host of Poudre defenders and able to get a clean look with the left foot on her breakaway, sliding a shot underneath Swisher.
“They are very simple, and often times, simple gets mistaken with not very good,” Poudre (8-2-2, 4-1-2) coach Nick Holley said. “They are simple and very effective. We are very technical, they are simple and fast, and I’ll take speed any day.”
Poudre 0 0 – 0
Rocky Mountain 2 1 – 3
Goals – E. Johnson (Mayer), 24th minute; Breidenbach (unassisted), 32nd; Kenney (Hastings), 65th. Shots on goal – Poudre 0-3 – 3; Rocky Mountain 5-3 – 8. Saves – Poudre (Swisher) 3-2 – 5; Rocky Mountain (Hampson) 0-3 – 3. Offsides – Poudre 0-2 – 2; Rocky Mountain 0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Poudre 1-1 – 2; Rocky Mountain 2-4 – 6. Fouls – Poudre 6-4 – 10; Rocky Mountain 4-8 – 12. Yellow card – J. Johnson, Rocky Mountain, 51st minute.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached
at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
