ERIE — In a battle between two of Colorado’s top Class 5A girls soccer teams, the underclassmen-led Legacy Lightning emerged victorious over Erie on Thursday evening.
Freshman Ellie Mikolaj and sophomore Anaya Bursey each netted a goal, and fellow freshman Jacy Hibbeler assisted the latter in Legacy’s 2-0 road win. Plus, sophomore goalkeeper Shayne Davey locked things down in net with her sixth shutout of the season.
“They have a high game understanding, which has been really fun,” Legacy head coach Heather Solar said of her underclassmen. “They’re coming from different, really good clubs, and they’re buying into what I’m trying to get them to do.”
The second-ranked Lightning, which entered Thursday trailing only Fossil Ridge in the Class 5A CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index, improved to 10-0 overall following its first Granite Peaks League win of the season.
No. 14 Erie fell to 7-2-1 (0-1 GPL), but junior Elodie Kirchoffner is optimistic that the Tigers can build on a strong second half.
“I think we definitely locked in in the second half and worked our butts off and didn’t make them score again, which is nice,” said Kirchoffner, the Tigers’ leading goal-scorer with eight on the year. “I think we put up a good game.”
Just over 12 minutes into the first half, Hibbeler assisted Busey for the game’s opening goal. About five minutes later, the Lightning struck again on Mikolaj’s third goal of the year.
Hibbeler, Busey and Mikolaj may get all the credit in the box score, but much of Legacy’s success revolves around center back Kalei Hollingsworth. The sophomore has made a habit of winning contested balls and setting up Legacy’s offense for scoring looks.
“I try to be really vocal and try to communicate with people; I think that’s a huge part,” Hollingsworth said. “Also, I try to go win every single 50/50 ball, anything that comes my way.”
Solar added that she was proud of Hollingsworth and the rest of her underclassmen for stepping up against a challenging Erie team.
“We’re really young this year, so I’m really proud of them,” Solar said. “We knew this would be a tough competition, and the girls came out and performed.”
While Erie managed a couple of competitive shots on goal in the second half, Legacy’s defense held strong in the final 40 minutes. On the season, the Lightning has now outscored its opponents 38-4.
“We’re always working hard to get the ball, and we don’t complain,” Hollingsworth said. “We just have a good attitude and mindset about everything.”
Legacy will face another difficult test Tuesday when it hosts Fairview.
As for second-year head coach Laura Munnelly and the Tigers, they’ll visit Monarch on Tuesday. Along with Kirchoffner, junior Taylin Maynes and sophomore Annabel Mydlowski, who’ve combined for 11 goals on the year, will look to help Erie bounce back.
“Obviously, it’s not what we wanted, but hopefully we can pick ourselves back up again and win the next game,” Kirchoffner said.