Niwot girls make early exit from soccer playoffs

It wasn't easy for Niwot girls soccer coach Jenna Machado to find the positives after the Cougars' 7-0 loss to Windsor in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs on June 16, but she did see opportunities for growth and predicts a bright future for a team that is highly talented, but still learning the ropes of high school soccer.

"We're not there yet, competition-wise," the second-year coach said after addressing her emotional team. "This young group is really strong, but they definitely need to build some character before they're ready to compete at that level."

Going into the game, Niwot had a few positives on its side, most notably the return of speedy forward Kiera Flanagan, who was injured during the Cougars' May 27 game against Northridge, and missed the final four games of the regular season. Machado also added sophomore defender Angela Wu to the varsity roster, and was thrilled when she ended up being the Cougars' most impactful player against the Wizards.

"She crushed it today," Machado said. "She was phenomenal, and I'm extremely, extremely excited to have next year with her. We put her on JV to have her work on some things at center back that we want to see, knowing that she was probably starting next year. And then just to see how she's progressed and to see her be a phenomenal player in this game was really exciting."

Despite the tough play of Wu and co-defender Avery Verbeck, the Cougars' advantages were no match against Windsor's high-scoring attack. Almost from the opening whistle, the Wizards dominated possession, and as the clock ticked down, the pressure mounted on Niwot's backline.

At the other end of the field, the Wizards midfielders and defenders kept Niwot's high-scoring forwards Flanagan and Borncamp well out of their comfort zone, and well out of scoring range. Though boosted by the efforts of midfielder Tiffany Yie and freshman forward Alex Boyer, the Cougars' offense had difficulty penetrating past the midline, and was virtually a non-factor as the game went on.

The Cougars kept Windsor out of the net for a little more than half of the first half, thanks to some heads-up play from keeper Carly Toothaker, but the Wizard's forwards finally broke through in the 22nd minute, and then followed with another goal shortly thereafter, a lead they would hold through halftime.

Machado pulled out all the stops to jump start her offense in the second half, even changing Niwot's on-field formation to a 4-2-4, a move she later called "unheard of." When that proved ineffective, and the score kept getting more lopsided, the second-year coach decided to try another approach, and substituted some younger players.

"I could have kept on everybody, and I think the score would have been lower, but then I don't know if that would have shown where we can be next year," she said.

For Machado, exposing the newer players to postseason pressure was an important first step. After losing the 2020 season to the pandemic, the 2021 Cougars had very few players with prior varsity experience, let alone playoff experience, and that was evident against a tough opponent like Windsor, according to Machado.

"I've been telling them since the beginning that you're not aware of what the level of competition is out there, and I think today, it really showed. The lack of understanding of tenacity, the lack of intensity is really showing--like being touch tight, being very aggressive on the ball and off the ball, but being aware of everybody is something that we've gotten away with the whole season."

If the playoff loss was the first step, then a "very long and painful preseason" will be step two. Machado is already looking forward to getting a jump on the 2022 season, which will see most of the varsity starters returning. Until then, she plans to remember the more positive aspects of the 2021 season, which will be memorable in more ways than one.

"This was just a great season, and it's a bummer that this is what our outcome looks like," she said, wincing at the scoreboard. "We went a little off book for a little bit, so we got some goals scored on us because of that, but I, I'm very proud of this group. There's a lot of love in this group, and I've never had a team just be so loving towards each other. So that's been really, really nice."