The East Angels made the beautiful game look like quantum physics for 50 minutes Tuesday.
They raced up and down the pitch, hit the post twice and the crossbar once, and blazed a handful of shots within inches of the goal but had nothing to show for it.
But in the 51st minute, the Angels made it all look easy. Lillie Toaspern sparked a fluid give-and-go counterattack with Emily Gosche and buried the first goal in a 2-0 victory over Columbine in the first round of girls soccer’s Class 5A state playoffs.
“That’s all we had to do the whole time,” Toaspern said. “We just got too frantic and were pounding it everywhere and forcing it.”
The No. 8 Angels (13-2-0) had a penalty kick won and converted by Gosche eight minutes later to subdue the 25th-seeded Rebels (10-5), who spent most the game a few passes away from creating something dangerous.
East forward Kate Buss hit the left post in the second minute and the Angels were buzzing. Buss, who repeatedly got around the Columbine defense from the wings, forced a save two minutes later and Alex LaPorta put a shot off the crossbar in the 14th minute.
Buss grew unluckier when her shot in the 17th minute hit the post, bounced across the face of the open goal and was cleared by the Rebels a mere inches from going in.
“We just knew we were beating ourselves,” said Gosche, who shot narrowly wide twice in the first half. “They didn’t really have many opportunities in the first half, just counters that we made mistakes on. We knew we could play better and get it eventually.”
The Rebels had plenty of speed up top in Amanda Giddens and Kristen Hamilton, but they seldom connected their passes and rarely played the ball through the middle of the field. Hamilton got loose two minutes before halftime but was tackled from behind and Columbine forced East goalkeeper Jenna Greenwood to make just two saves.
“It’s been kind of hard for us this season to link our plays and transitioning to that forward, because we’ve got really fast forwards,” Columbine senior midfielder Kate McMullen said.
After Toaspern’s opening goal, Gosche earned the penalty kick when she was ridden to the ground by Rebels defender Caitlyn Reichlin inside the box.
Columbine 0 0 — 0
East 0 2 — 2
Goals — Toaspern (Gosche), 51st minute; Gosche (penalty kick), 59th.
Shots on goal — Columbine 1-1 – 2, East 3-5 – 8.
Saves — Columbine (Klomp) 3-3 – 6, East (Greenwood) 1-1 – 2.
Offside — Columbine 0-0 – 0, East 4-1 – 5. Corner kicks — Columbine 1-1 – 2, East 4-2 – 6. Fouls — Columbine 4-5 – 9; East 2-6 – 8. Yellow cards — Smith, E, 28th minute; McMullen, C, 75th; Gosche, E, 76th.
