Last year, the Montezuma-Cortez girls soccer team was excited to make the program’s first postseason appearance in decades. This year, the Panthers look to take the next step and make some waves in the bracket.
Under second-year head coach Reese Smith, the Panthers took down their second straight league title while posting nine wins to go along with an unbeaten league slate.
The Panthers turned around an 0-3 start to finish 9-4-2, earning M-CHS the No. 27 seed in the 3A state bracket, representing the IML as the lone qualifier into the 32-team field. Smith’s Panthers face off against a familiar foe – the No. 6 seed Delta Panthers – on Thursday, May 11, at 5 p.m. at Delta High School.
The two Western Slope programs with the matching Panther mascot met on April 3 in Delta, with the hosts picking up two first-half goals in a 2-0 win en route to a 12-3 regular season record and runner-up finish in the 3A Western Slope League.
Their meeting from five weeks ago will feel like ancient history to a M-CHS program that scorched the nets in the subsequent matches. Sophomore Jordi Mahler scored a dozen goals this season to lead the Panthers, while senior Sophia Shepard added six to an offense that feasted on working behind the opposition’s back line. Sophomore Emily Howell added three goals, while junior midfielder Anna Jenson scored a pair of goals and controls the midfield for the Panthers.
As the season progressed, the Panthers took advantage of their wing speed, utilizing junior Janae Boyd and sophomore Luna Moore as threats on the outside to help open up more opportunities in the middle for their scoring threats.
Meanwhile, senior Jayden Thomason helped anchor the center of the back line, joining forces with junior Grace Darrin to limit opposition to just nine goals in their final 12 matches this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Aubrey Rutherford played a large role in the stingy defensive output, as the Panthers collected seven clean sheets over the course of the season.
The Panthers know they will have their work cut out for them if they hope to reverse the result from early April against Delta and advance to the round of 16. Delta boasts an offense scoring 2.5 goals per game, led by junior Alex Hirsch’s nine markers for the No. 6 seed.
The winner of the opening round bout will move on to face the winner of No. 11 seed Eagle Ridge Academy (7-6-1) and No. 22 Timnath (11-3-1) in the 3A Sweet 16 to be contested on Saturday, May 13, to be hosted by the highest remaining seed.
