Cougars soccer winning streak ends

The Niwot High School girls soccer team had their three-game winning streak come to an end last week with a 4-0 loss at Silver Creek High School last Thursday, April 14.

The Cougars won an early week game against Mountain View, 6-0, with Maddie Barkow and Kailee Stobbe each scoring two goals. Hannah Gray added a goal and two assists while Sarah Syper was credited with a goal and an assist. Against cross-town rival Silver Creek, it was a different story.

For the first time since March, the Cougars were unable to hold their opponent under two goals, and for the first time this season they were shut out. Head Coach Rob Johnson said his team didn’t play to their ability against the Raptors.

“They outplayed us, they scored on their chances and we didn’t score on ours,” Johnson said after the loss. “I think we played with a little bit of fear, we got down a little bit. We’ve got to have more composure.”

While the score seems lopsided, the game was actually a very tightly contested match that Niwot seemed to control for most of the time. Juniors Maddie Barkow and Kailee Stobbe did a good job pressing the attack up front while senior striker Hannah Gray had to move back to defense after an injury in the first half.

When Silver Creek penetrated however, the Raptors were able to capitalize on the opportunity. In the first half, both goals for the Raptors came on unfortunate circumstances.

The first came off of a free kick from 30 yards out that took an awkward bounce that sophomore goalkeeper Ali Colvin wasn’t able to get a hand on. The second came off a ball that Colvin should have been able to handle but it deflected off her hand and into the goal.

“We just have to move on,” Johnson said of the team’s mentality. “This was a league game which is a killer. I think our league is just going to beat each other up this year.”

With the loss, Niwot now moves to 2-1 in league play. The Cougars were able to bounce back the next day and throw a shutout of their own against Skyview with a 3-0 win, despite having to fight through cold and rainy weather.

Even though Skyview is a non-league opponent, it was good for Niwot to get a win to wash away the bad taste of the loss at Silver Creek. The Cougars were supposed to play another non-league match against Roosevelt on Saturday, but the game was called due to snow.

Niwot now has seven games left in the season, five of which are against league opponents. Johnson said they have a great shot to beat anyone and they can’t afford to drop another game.

“Now we have to run the table and hope that [Silver Creek] gets nipped by someone else,” Johnson said of his team’s chances at winning its league.

The Cougars can continue their next win streak in a game at cross-town rival Longmont on Tuesday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m.