ARVADA — There’s a fine line between clutch and lucky. Becca Morales walked that line Tuesday night and looked absolutely brilliant.
With the score tied in the second half, the St. Mary’s midfielder turned on a ball from a sharp angle and arced a perfect shot into the net from 20 yards out to give the Pirates a 3-2 Class 3A nonleague victory over Faith Christian.
“I’ve done it before,” Morales said with assurance.
The goal, which came in the 57th minute off a throw-in by Jennifer Ivan, was the eye-popping end to an up-and-down rematch of the 2008 state final, won by the Eagles.
Second-ranked St. Mary’s (6-1) quickly rallied from a 1-0 deficit with goals from Lauren Kuklenski and standout Christina Whitelaw before fifth-ranked Faith Christian (6-3) answered eight minutes into the second half. Both sides put the opponent’s defense under pressure, but it was Morales’ spectacular shot that grabbed a measure of revenge for the Colorado Springs-based Pirates, who have lost in the past two 3A finals.
“For me, this is my last chance, and I don’t want to take second in state three years in a row,” Morales said. “I think this year we’re just extremely determined.”
Whitelaw was the glue and the creative spark for the Pirates. The junior was leaned upon heavily in the first half, setting up Kuklenski with a knifing pass into the penalty area and scoring in the 40th minute with a rifling shot from outside the penalty area.
But as Whitelaw drew more attention, the Pirates remained dangerous with Morales, Kuklenski and Jenny Nagl up top.
“We have even scoring, so at any point in the game anyone can step up and take a goal,” Whitelaw said.
The Eagles were equally deep in their attack. Aubrey Fondy opened the scoring in the 11th minute, and sophomore Ariane Lukens tied it 2-2 when she finished a great centering pass from Brittany Halcomb.
The Eagles struggled with midfield possession, but their counterattack was fast enough to give the Pirates’ trio of defenders problems. Fondy and freshman Alison Pott had good chances in the waning minutes but were denied by Pirates goalkeeper Katie Loof.
“They have a phenomenal player in (Whitelaw), so we’ve got to learn how to take care of her next time we see them,” Faith Christian coach Amber Jenkins said. “I was really proud, though, of my offense and the plays they were making.”
St. Mary’s 2 1 – 3
Faith Christian 1 1 – 2
Goals – FC: Fondy (Fonte), 11th minute; SM: Kuklenski (Whitelaw), 14th; Whitelaw (Klopfenstein), 40th; FC: Lukens (Halcomb), 48th; SM: Morales (Ivan), 57th.
Shots on goal – St. Mary’s 4-8 – 12; Faith Christian 2-4 – 6. Saves – St. Mary’s (Loof) 1-3 – 4; Faith Christian (S. Bartusek) 2-7 – 9. Offsides – St. Mary’s 0-0 – 0; Faith Christian 0-1 – 1. Corner kicks – St. Mary’s 4-1 – 5; Faith Christian 1-1 – 2. Fouls – St. Mary’s 5-8 – 13; Faith Christian 4-6 – 10. Yellow cards – Lukens, FC, 57th minute; Pott, FC, 62nd; Morales, SM, 80th.
