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Jeffco League members D’Evelyn and Evergreen were equally prepared to square off in the聽Class 4A girls soccer championship at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

The Jaguars finished fourth in the league and the Cougars third, but each side had been molded by the difficulties of one of Colorado’s best conferences.

And Wednesday night, it was D’Evelyn who came out and stole the momentum early via sophomore聽Laryssa Hamblen’s goal less than five minutes into the game聽en route to a 1-0 win and聽the program’s first state championship.

“I came across an opportunity on a break-away, and I knew I had to make the most of it,”聽Laryssa Hamblen said. “Fortunately, I was able to place the shot聽right in a game where we knew the chances would be limited.”

The title match, much like the grind of Jeffco League play, featured lockdown defense, quality possessions and talented goalie play. Sophomore Kiera Hess starred for D’Evelyn as the Jaguars were able to hold off a furious Evergreen push in the waning minutes of聽the second half.

“There was聽a lot of stress going on, but I had faith in my back line — I just have an incredible team in front of me,” Kiera Hess said. “They put everything out there today.”

Evergreen, which beat D’Evelyn 3-2 on April 26, finished聽13-7 and the Jaguars finished 16-3-1. The respect the players had for their league opponents was clear until the final whistle.

“I think the Jeffco League is definitely the best league in 4A right now, and we had to fight to end聽up pulling through,” Hamblen said. “Credit Evergreen, though, they are a great team. They battled right up until the end.”

The win gave D’Evelyn its second state title this spring to go along with the Class 3A girls tennis championship a few weeks ago.