It was easy to wonder just how battle-tested the girls soccer team would be as it entered the Class 5A state tournament.
The Angels rolled through their Denver Public League schedule, entering the postseason riding a five-game winning streak in which they outscored their opponents 45-0, leaving open the question of how East would respond down the stretch of a tight playoff game.
As learned Tuesday, the Angels can take care of business just fine in those situations.
Junior midfielder Lillie Toaspern scored the winning goal in the seventh minute of overtime to complete a by the Angels (11-3-1) in the first round at All-City Stadium.
“With the lopsided games, sometimes you don’t have to keep your focus,” East coach Beth Hinz said. “For them to keep their focus and come back against a good team like Chaparral, that’s a good sign.”
Freshman goalkeeper Francesca Sally turned in a strong performance for the 13th-seeded Angels, finishing with four saves and also snaring several dangerous centering passes out of the air.
The Wolverines (9-7) took a 1-0 lead in the first half on freshman McKenna Schmitt’s 10th goal of the season. That held until a little over 10 minutes remained in regulation, when T’Keyah Henry launched a crossing pass from deep along the right wing that Monica Lubin one-touched past Chaparral goalie Katarina Hine, tying the match at 1-1.
Lubin then assisted on Toaspern’s winner in overtime, blasting a pass that ricocheted off a Chaparral player to leave Toaspern with an uncontested charge against Hine.
“We worked so hard, and I got that one chance and I knew I had to finish it,” Toaspern said.
Chaparral 1 0 0 — 1
East 0 1 1 — 2
Goals: C, McKenna Schmitt (Maddie Kiebel), 33rd minute; DE, Monica Lubin (T’Keyah Henry), 69th minute; DE, Lillie Toaspern (Lubin), 87th minute. Shots on goal: C, 3-2-0—5; DE, 1-3-1—4. Saves: C (Katarina Hine 3); DE (Francesca Sally 4). Corner kicks: C, 2-3-2—7; DE, 1-1-0—2; Fouls: C, 2-4-2—8; DE, 5-4-0—9. Offisdes: C, 0-1-0—1; DE, 2-1-0—3.
