The month of March wreaked havoc on the athletics schedules in Southwest Colorado. After seeing contest after contest postponed and practice and game facilities deemed unplayable, the Montezuma-Cortez soccer team needed a jump-start to get their league title defense going.
A 2-0 weekend right before prom might do the trick, as the Panthers collected wins over Ignacio and Pagosa Springs, 4-0 and 1-0, respectively, to kick off what will be a very busy April. An overtime goal from Jordi Mahler capped a perfect weekend for the Panthers on their home turf, giving M-CHS the spark to start a big week ahead.
An 0-3 start to the campaign and only one goal in 240 minutes of action left the Panthers feeling off-kilter, especially given the team’s capacity to pile up goals in 2022.
In their league opener Saturday, the Panthers (2-3, 1-0 3A SWL) dominated shots and possession against Pagosa Springs (0-6, 0-2 3A SWL), but couldn’t find a breakthrough in the opening half. Both Mahler and fellow striker Sophia Shepard peppered the Pirates goal, and the Panthers felt like they might have had a half-dozen goals before the intermission.
However, as the game remained goalless, the Pirates started to gain a foothold in the contest, and even had the chance to take the lead before halftime, but the Panthers back line intervened to Pirate forward Sofia Haymaker from close range.
M-CHS seized control again in the second half, as Luna Moore and Janae Boyd gave the Pirates fits from the wings, and Anna Jenson proved to be the class of the midfield, setting up her teammates with attacking opportunities. Mahler lashed a couple of sharp angle shots across the face of goal, but still the Panthers couldn’t find the net. Goalkeeper Aubrey Rutherford came up with a pair of big saves in the final 10 minutes of regulation, and the teams would settle for extra time.
In the 84th minute, right off a Pagosa attack, the Panthers cleared the back, and launched the ball to midfield. Mahler collected the outlet, and turned to spring the counterattack on her own, racing past the last Pagosa Springs defender, before lofting a shot over the Pirate keeper for the deciding golden goal. The Panthers piled on Mahler to celebrate a victory as a collective weight lifted off the team.
The 1-0 victory was the third straight win over the Pirates, all by an identical score line in their league encounters.
The league-opening win came a day after the Panthers pounced on Ignacio in the second half for a 4-0 win, tallying three times after halftime to put away the Bobcats. The win over Ignacio moved M-CHS to 8-0 in meetings with Bobcats since 2017. Rutherford and the Panther defense earned their second clean sheet in as many days – their first two of the season – in the win.
The Panthers turn their focus to a big afternoon Friday, April 14 in Alamosa against the Mean Moose (3-3, 1-2 3A SWL) before hosting league-leading Bayfield (3-1, 3-0 3A SWL) on Tuesday, April 18, at 4 p.m.
