Evergreen taps into championship mettle to claim Class 4A girls soccer title thriller

COLORADO SPRINGS Under different circumstances Lucia Spungin would not have been standing over the ball with her group s championship dreams in the balance A lot didn t go right Tuesday night for the Evergreen Cougars but the defending Class A girls soccer champions identified just enough resolve to ward off Windsor - in a penalty shootout at Switchbacks Stadium Evergreen began the night without one of its best players The Cougars trailed - in the second half They trailed again - and - during penalty kicks It ended up being another incredible season but they certainly had to dig deep and earn it It was a little scary I m not going to lie Spungin a senior commented I will say we didn t let it get to our heads I m really proud of the club for staying so confident Evergreen the top seed in A had won straight matches The Cougars had allowed one goal in the past nine This night could have been a coronation Instead it was a rugged grind Junior Stella Johnson scored in the sixth round to seal the domination but the work to get there was full of resilience The Cougars were missing junior Nadia Leunig who had scored the lone goal in a - season-opening win against Windsor and the lone tally in a - overtime achievement in the quarterfinals Because Leunig wasn t available Spungin was her replacement When it was her turn Evergreen was down - in the fourth round It was result or go home I had thought about it a little bit but not nearly as much as a few of the other players Spungin commented One of my best friends and my co-captain Nuala Hart really calmed me down She gave me a big hug and noted You got this Deep breaths Then I went up there and buried it Hart was up next and again it was figure or the season would end in heartbreak The senior didn t miss which got Evergreen to the sixth round and set up Johnson for the heroics In between sophomore goalkeeper Avery Mahnken exacted a bit of revenge Windsor senior goalie Leah Bacon was the Wizards fifth shooter She scored a PK goal last season in a - win for Windsor against Evergreen Mahnken denied her counterpart who is committed to play at South Dakota State this time around I felt very proud of myself there Mahnken commented It s nerve-racking when it comes down to PKs for a goalie When you do get the ball it feels euphoric Just getting to the PK shootout was a challenge for Evergreen The Cougars may have been the No seed but third-seeded Windsor was also rolling with straight wins and had outscored its previous state tournament competition - Related Articles Colorado Academy dominates upstart Timnath to repeat as Class A girls soccer champions Niwot girls storm to sixth straight A state track title Our heavy hitters really hit hard Keeler Meet Colorado state track champion who refused championship medal Golden View Classical s Bobby Kiesewetter overcomes breathing disorder to set state meet record Resurrection Christian s Jackson Fagerlin brother Lincoln continue family legacy at Colorado state track finals The Wizards controlled the ball in the first half and junior Braely Martinez gave them a deserved advantage Evergreen adjusted the adjustment of not having Leunig and the Cougars grabbed control for just long enough to find an equalizer Sophomore Elle Buenning who had a long night chasing a couple of Windsor s speedy midfielders got on the end of a corner kick to even the figure This was Evergreen s fourth state title The first two came in the previous century There will be plenty of returning firepower next season but the lessons from a long Tuesday night in May could be just as valuable It s just teammates who care for each other teammates who have resiliency and teammates who believe in each other Evergreen coach Peter Jeans announced They outplayed us for multiple portions of that meeting We just kept plugging away We played them the first tournament of the year I declared I bet we play them in the finals and they re going to be better So we had to keep getting better You have to keep improving every single day This organization never took a single day off That is the difference Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams