Girls Soccer: Niwot looks to defend Northern League title

The graduation of standouts Kailee Stobbe and Maddie Barkow left two giant holes in the Niwot girls soccer team lineup, but head coach Steve Dimit isn’t panicking. With 13 varsity players returning this year and a group of very promising underclassmen joining them, Dimit believes the Cougars have all the tools they need to defend the Northern League title and make another deep run in the postseason.

“We have a good, young crew,” Dimit said. “Everybody came back with something new, and I was really happy to see that.”

Led by Barkow and All-State honoree Stobbe, the 2017 Cougars went 12-5 on the year and claimed sole possession of the Northern League title for the first time since 2009. They also claimed their first postseason victory since 2014 with a first-round win over Erie in last year’s Class 4A tournament.

Dimit said this year’s team is eager for a repeat, despite the loss of two of the region’s top scorers.

“We want to win the league again,” Dimit said. “That’s the first goal, and we’ll take the others as they come.”

Dimit said that he’s had to make adjustments to compensate for the loss of Barkow and Stobbe, who often stretched the offense with their speed.

“This year we’re probably going to work more as a unit to possess, and then strike from there,” Dimit said. “That’s why we have a lot of attacking players who have the same mindset to connect passes on their way to the goal.”

Heading up Niwot’s new-look offense this year is senior forward Anna McCarthy, who had 23 points for the Cougars in 2017, and has “come back in excellent form,” according to Dimit. Joining her up front are fellow seniors Sage Marten and Mary Stischer, junior Grace Knight, sophomore Autumn Carlston, and freshman Kiera Flanagan. Midfielder duties will be handled by freshman Maddie Borncamp, sophomores Lexi Crow and Natalia Storz, and juniors Elise Crall and Ava Dumler.

A number of familiar names populate this year’s defensive roster, including seniors Aria Carlston, Nazary Ramirez, Kenzie Pasma and Roxie Pasma, as well as junior Sierra Keppler and sophomore Lauren Cranny. They will be joined by newcomer Sydney Lee.

“We take a lot of pride defensively, and I don’t think that changes very much this year,” Dimit said.

Backing them up is senior keeper Allie Colvin, who is poised for another award-winning season, according to her coach. In 2017, she allowed just 24 goals in 1300 minutes, and earned All-State honorable mention for her efforts.

“She didn’t get a whole lot of work in goal over the winter because she was playing basketball,” Dimit said. “But she came out and for the last two weeks she’s been awesome. She looks completely ready to go.”

Niwot opens the season on the road against Skyview on March 8., then makes its home debut on March 14 against Standley Lake.