Highlands Ranch – Chelsea Stewart’s battle wounds are a testament to her work ethic.
The Mountain Vista junior, sporting a nasty gash above her left eye and the subsequent black eye that followed, bagged two goals and set up another in the Golden Eagles’ 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Regis on Tuesday.
“Good players will punish you,” Regis coach David Bulow said, “and we got punished.”
Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Mountain Vista, ranked No. 8 in The Denver Post/9News Class 5A poll, made sure that if they were going to get back in the game, Stewart would be at the center of the rally.
Stewart’s pass from her midfield position in the 47th minute to freshman Haley Hughes set up Mountain Vista’s (7-2-2 in the Continental League, 8-4-2 overall) first goal. Hughes ran uncontested down the right flank and delivered a perfect throughball to senior Mindy Daines, who finished past freshman keeper Meagan Thomas.
“Everything’s cooking, and we are starting to peak at the right moment,” said Stewart, who has already committed to Vanderbilt.
A formation change at the half, an attempt to ignite the offense, worked. Just moments after the first goal, Stewart equalized with a shot caromed in off the bar.
She would win it in the waning moments with a rocket from 30 yards out that was hit perfectly and just tailed away from Thomas to the far post.
“It was just great to come back from a deficit, and that’s something we’ve struggled with all year,” Mountain Vista coach Theresa Echtermeyer said. “It’s just about trusting one another.”
Regis (5-3-2, 8-3-2), ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, opened up its two-goal lead within the first 20 minutes. Kaily Benenati was in the right place to deflect in a failed clearing attempt and Kayla Boortz roofed a direct free kick over the wall and goalie Becca Cushing.
But it was the missed attempts that the Raiders will anguish over. Benenati had a one-on-one chance deflected away by Cushing and Adria Staky drilled a shot off the post, as did Marissa Stampias.
Regis 2 0 – 2
Mountain Vista 0 3 – 3
Goals – R: Benenati (Boortz), 10th minute; Boortz (unassisted), 20th; MV: Daines (Hughes), 47th; Stewart (unassisted); Stewart (unassisted), 79th.
Shots on goal – Regis 5-3 – 8; Mountain Vista 3-5 – 8. Saves – Regis (Thomas) 3-2 – 5; Mountain Vista (Cushing) 3-3 – 6. Corner kicks – Regis 3-2 – 5; Mountain Vista 0-1 – 1. Offsides – Regis 1-0 – 1; Mountain Vista 2-2 – 4. Fouls – Regis 1-1 – 2; Mountain Vista 2-7 – 9. Yellow cards – None.
