The Peak to Peak Pumas jumped out to an early 2-0 lead heading into halftime against Bayfield and held on for victory to end the Wolverines season at the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 3A Girls Soccer Championships on Friday.
BHS rallied with two goals but fell 5-2 in the opening-round game.
“Despite the loss, we played well and we did the best we could,” Bayfield head coach Jen Zelinski said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Player by player, they’re just a good team.”
The Pumas (10-5) scored again early in the second half to go up 3-0, but Bayfield (11-3) returned the favor to get on the board for the first time when Savannah Kaufmann was fouled on a play that resulted in a free kick. Maddy Duran nailed a 21-yard blast that sailed over the four-girl wall of Peak to Peak players and the goalkeeper for the first score for Bayfield.
The Wolverines scored another goal from Kaufmann, who received a pass from Misty Helton. Kaufmann dribbled past the goalkeeper and got behind the defense for the one-on-one score. Helton was awarded with the assist.
“I just kept trying to keep the girls as positive as possible with the momentum carrying us,” Zelinski said. “The score didn’t reflect the closeness of the game. They buried two more shots near the end. We have talented players, but they have a lot of talented players. I can’t be unhappy with this loss because we gave it all we could.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
