PARKER — It’s probably not a habit that Chaparral coach Tony Bevill would like to see his team continue to exhibit.
One night after dropping their first game of the season to Mountain Vista 3-0, the Wolverines were down 2-0 in the first 11 minutes against ThunderRidge on Thursday at Sports Authority Stadium.
Rather than just rolling over and letting the Grizzlies take it to them, Chaparral responded — as it had done earlier in the season when faced with the same predicament — and fought back for a well-earned 2-2 tie.
“Yeah, we’ll take it after last night,” Bevill said. “It’s frustrating we didn’t put one in at the end to win it, but I thought that we played well enough to win it.”
In a stacked Continental League, any positive result is a good thing. Chaparral moved to 5-1-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the league. ThunderRidge is 5-0-2, 1-0-2.
Michelle Manning netted two goals just three minutes apart to put ThunderRidge up 2-0 early on.
A textbook corner finish by Ciara Kuhlmann and a Jaime Hampton rebound goal equalized the match before halftime.
“They are kids, and I understand that,” Grizzlies coach Chris Smith said. “We just build from what we’ve got.”
Talented midfielder Tommi Goodman, bound for Arizona State in the fall, had three quality chances in the final 20 minutes. Two bounced off the bar, and the other was turned away by Wolverines keeper Lauren Bound.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354, jyunt@denverpost.com or
