It took a week to complete, but the long wait was worth it for Ralston Valley’s girls soccer team.
The Mustangs defeated Arvada West 5-0 on Friday at the North Area Athletic Complex. Ralston Valley (12-2-1, 7-0 in Class 5A Jeffco League) finished off an undefeated conference mark along with winning its first girls soccer league title since 2013.
“It was 100%,” Ralston Valley Coach Kamee Morwood said after her team was presented the league championship plaque by Ralston Valley Principal Mica Buenning. “This group of girls bought in from the beginning. It has been so fun to watch them do what they do.”
The cross-town rivalry played less than 10 minutes on April 26 at the NAAC before lightning postponed the game. The Wildcats and Mustangs returned seven days later to finish the regular season and 5A Jeffco finale.
“I was excited. We just wanted to finish this game,” Ralston Valley senior goalie Margot Mulhern said after the Mustangs’ 8th shutout win of the season. “We came out a little tired in the last game (April 26), but we came out today with a lot of fire and motivation. We really wanted to win this game.”
Ralston Valley officially clinched the league title on May 1 at Lakewood Memorial with a 5-0 shutout victory over Lakewood, but finishing the regular season in style was important.
“We did come ready to play. It was nice to not have that pressure,” Morwood said about the Mustangs already clinching the league title earlier in the week. “Today they just had to come out and play.”
The leading goal scorer in 5A — Ralston Valley junior Raleigh Greason — came ready also and showed why she is one of the top players in the state with a hat-trick.
Greason bent in a corner kick into the goal in the 15th minute to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later she had a nifty flick past Arvada West senior goalie Isabelle Lalouetteto put Ralston Valley up 2-0 at halftime.
“I knew I had the goalie behind me and a player on me,” Greason said. “Sammi (Madden) hit it and I was in the perfect spot to hit it and get it right over her (goalie). That was my plan.”
The Texas Tech University commit has five hat-tricks on the season for a 5A-leading 29 goals.
“She is just unreal,” Morwood said of Greason. “She is so talented and a great leader. She is something.”
Ralston Valley freshman Santana Sabus got into the scoring action with her 13th goal of the season in the 46th minute. Greason completed her hat trick performance with a hard shot in the 50th minute to give the Mustangs a commanding 4-0 lead.
“I know we’ll get a couple more the next couple of weeks,” Greason said of being one goal short of 30. “It’s a goal of mine to just keep scoring and help my team score goals. Twenty-nine (goals) is good for me, but not enough. I want to keep it going.”
Ralston Valley freshman Lauren Sabus scored in the final minute for the Mustangs to make it a 5-0 victory.
Ralston Valley was No. 6 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index before the ninth straight victory of the Mustangs to end the regular season. A top-eight seed for the 5A state tournament would potentially give the Mustangs first- and second-round home playoff games at NAAC next week.
“It’s great. They aren’t done playing here (at NAAC) and I’m not done watching them play here,” Morwood said. “Hopefully we get two and maybe be on the side of the bracket where we get a third.”
NAAC will host two of the four quarterfinals scheduled for May 13. The 32-team state bracket will be released on Sunday, May 5.
“That’s a big thing for us to play home games here. We have such a great community,” Greason said. “This winning steak is a big thing for us. Winning this league undefeated is something we haven’t done since 2013. It was a big goal that we got done, now we have more going into playoffs.”
A-West (8-6-1, 4-3) was No. 24 in the seeding ranking before the loss. The Wildcats will be on the road first in the first round which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8.
Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.