COMMERCE CITY — With less than four minutes remaining in regulation and defenders swarming all around, Tess Johnson did just about the only thing she could — shoot. Even though she couldn’t see exactly where she was aiming, Johnson knew if she kicked the ball hard enough, it just might go in.
In the first-ever Class 2A girls soccer state championship game, Johnson, a freshman at Vail Mountain (15-1), scored the first goal and the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Dawson School (11-6) on Tuesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It was a blind shot that everyone — including Johnson — thought goalkeeper Nicole Towner would save.
Towner got a hand on the ball, but it was moving just fast enough to slip right through her fingers and into the net in the waning minutes of the game.
PHOTOS:
Every game in the 2A tournament had ended in a shutout — until the championship.
It didn’t take long for Johnson to put Vail Mountain ahead, scoring in the fifth minute. But Dawson School junior midfielder Sophie Brussell answered in the 13th minute.
Morgan Dzakowic: 303-954-1275, mdzakowic @denverpost.com or
