COMMERCE CITY — Admittedly, the St. Mary’s Pirates were wondrously wide-eyed in their previous two trips to the Class 3A state title game.
Tuesday night, the top-seeded Pirates from Colorado Springs calmed every storm and held on for a 2-1 victory over No. 2 Alexander Dawson.
“It’s indescribable. I can’t believe it,” senior midfielder Jennifer Ivan said. “We worked so hard to get to this point. I think we really felt like we could win it this year. The two years before we were kind of star-struck, I guess.”
The biggest star, junior midfielder Christina Whitelaw, struck twice. She rifled a bouncing shot in from 35 yards out in the ninth minute, and then ripped a perfect ball into the upper corner three minutes later to make it 2-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
“We were attacking their goalie with a couple of those first shots,” said Whitelaw, who was denied by the post in the 30th and 31st minutes. “When we saw it went in, we kept firing from out there.”
The Pirates (17-1-0), whose only loss was to 5A finalist Air Academy, withstood a late onslaught by the Mustangs (18-2-0) from near Lafayette. Pirates goalkeeper Katie Loof made six second-half saves, including a spinning ball that rolled up her arm and off the crossbar with nine minutes remaining.
“I have a habit of counting down 30s,” Loof said. “So at four minutes, I said, ‘OK, 30 seconds left.’ I just kept counting it down and counting it down.”
The Mustangs appeared to be flat and flattened after Whitelaw’s second goal, but answered in the 17th minute when forward Annie Sullivan redirected Katie Dulin’s cross into the back of the net.
Behind Gatorade player of the year Olivia Wagner, the Mustangs had no shortage of scoring chances, especially on the acres of space available on the wide pitch. Crystal Chavez, Molly Dulin, Wagner and Sullivan all were set up, only to shoot high or into the arms of Loof.
“We lost, but we didn’t get beat,” said Wagner, a Maryland signee. “I think we outplayed them. The balls were just going in their favor.”
The Pirates are the first team from outside the Metropolitan League to win the 3A title since 1998. It’s their first soccer title and just the third state championship in school history.
Alexander Dawson 1 0 — 1
St. Mary’s 2 0 — 2
Goals —SM: Whitelaw (unassisted), 9th minute; Whitelaw (unassisted), 12th; AD: Sullivan (K. Dulin), 17th. Shots on goal — Alexander Dawson 3-6 9, St. Mary’s 2-2 4. Saves — Alexander Dawson (Hinton) 0-2 2, St. Mary’s (Loof) 2-6 8. Offside — Alexander Dawson 3-3 6, St. Mary’s 0-0 0. Corner kicks — Alexander Dawson 0-3 3, St. Mary’s 1-3 4. Fouls — Alexander Dawson 3-4 7, St. Mary’s 2-2 4. Yellow card — Morales, SM, 68th minute.
MVP
Junior midfielder Christina Whitelaw has been the engine all season for a talented and determined St. Mary’s squad. She scored two goals in a three-minute span and hit the post twice more, steering the Pirates to their first girls state soccer title.
