The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirate soccer team will draw the regular season to a close over the next week with the hope the season will continue into the playoffs.
The Lady Pirates are entering their final week of play as the No. 30 team in the 3A standings and with a 5-5 record.
The team went 1-1 over the last week, falling to the No. 7 Alamosa Mean Moose on Thursday, April 24, and defeating the No. 50 Bayfield Wolverines on Tuesday, April 29.
The Lady Pirates took on the Mean Moose on Thursday, April 24, at Golden Peaks Stadium, with the Pirates falling 3-1 to their visitors.
“That was a great game,” coach Trevor Gian said, adding it was “fantastic” and that even though the Lady Pirates lost the game, it felt like a win. “Against that team, that day, we came out with such great attitude and effort and fight.”
Gian added he thinks the Lady Pirates “kind of shocked” the Mean Moose for a while and let them know they would be in for a bit of a fight and not just cruise to a win.
“It was awesome,” he said. “There were so many moments in that game that I couldn’t be more proud of the team and who they were in that time and that moment.”
Alamosa took a 1-0 lead in the first half, but the Lady Pirates tied the game early in the second half.
“When we tied it ... early in the second half with [Adison Johnson’s] free kick goal, that was just a really special moment I think for the team,” Gian said, explaining it let them know they could be in it with a top-10 team. “To know that we could play with a team like that, be right in there with them with the opportunity to win ... it was a phenomenal game.”
The Mean Moose ultimately scored two more goals in the second half to secure the win.
Lady Pirate keeper Keira Davis logged 18 saves on the day.
“It was just a phenomenal game,” Gian said, calling it a representation of what they’re looking for in the program and that it’s about the effort and “showing what we’re made of,” not the wins and losses.
Alamosa remains undefeated on the season with a 10-0-2 record.
On Tuesday, April 29, the team traveled to Bayfield for a conference matchup and returned home with a 1-0 victory — its second win over the Wolverines this season.
The game’s sole goal came off a corner kick early in the game.
“We got an opportunity, had a short corner. Adi played it over to Hailey Sams. Hailey had a ton of space there to kind of ... break in towards the edge of the box and put one back post, and it came off a defender and went in,” Gian relayed.
Johnson earned the assist on Sams’ goal.
“Obviously the goal’s nice, but to do it off of somethin’ we’ve been workin’ on is ... really cool,” Gian said.
The coach added the goal was a good start, and the Lady Pirates had an opportunity to go up 2-0 early off another free kick, but it hit the crossbar.
Then, he noted, the game sort of settled down.
Gian indicated the Wolverines had a coaching change between matchups with the Lady Pirates, and he noticed a change.
“He definitely had them kind of ready to roll,” Gian said. “I think they recognized it as an opportunity to get a win on the season for them. They haven’t had too many of those, so their fight and their drive was ... kind of reminiscent of what we were doing with Alamosa.”
Davis logged six saves in the game, with Gian noting she had at least two “very, very quality saves.”
He added the Wolverines came out ready to win and “gave us a run for our money,” with the Lady Pirates not being as organized and structured during the game.
“We were in a fight ... the whole game through until that final whistle blew,” he said, adding that while it wasn’t the prettiest game, the team showed heart, tenacity, grit and progress.
The Lady Pirates also wanted the win, he noted, adding that win and another could potentially help the team “sneak” into the playoffs.
He added a chance to go to a playoff game would be “huge” for the program and the Lady Pirates.
The Lady Pirates will wrap up the regular season over the next week with a pair of home games.
Today, Thursday, May 1, the Pirates will host the 2A Del Norte Tigers at 4 p.m. at Golden Peaks Stadium.
The Tigers are 3-6 on the season.
“We’re really hoping to just come out strong, set the tone in that one,” Gian said, adding the hope is to not only win, but also be able to move the team’s seniors and defensive players around to different positions and have fun.
On Friday, also at 4 p.m., the Pirates will host the 4A Fruita-Monument Wildcats, who are 7-3-3 on the season, for their last home game.
Gian stated he doesn’t know much about the Wildcats, but that it’s a bigger school that has had “some good results.”
“I anticipate that being a very, very tough matchup,” he said. “If we show up with the same kind of attitude and effort we showed against Alamosa, I’m gonna be extremely happy regardless of the result.”
randi@pagosasun.com
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