Hungry to avenge a season-ending, Thanksgiving Day loss to Portland FC in the Western Conference semifinals of the 2021 MLS Cup Chase, the Colorado Rapids will face the Timbers for the first time in 2022 on Saturday, and the Bayfield Lady Wolverines will be there to cheer them on – capping a road trip including matches against two first-time foes.
In addition to continued team bonding en route to and eventually inside Dick’s Sporting Goods Park – site of all four 2022 CHSAA State Championship matches (to be contested May 24-25) – in Commerce City, BHS will first square off against Loveland Classical Academy at 4 p.m. Friday, then challenge Windsor Charter Academy at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Should positives outnumber negatives, the excursion away from a scoreboard execution will be most beneficial.
“Yeah, we had to get here through Salida,” said head coach Chris Zoltowski. “They’re such a quality team, have good communication, their passing is phenomenal – I knew it would be a challenge for us.”
Getting another Manitou Springs-like peek at life in the 3A Tri-Peaks League’s upper elevations, Bayfield fell behind 4-0 at halftime Tuesday and ultimately fell 9-0 to visiting SHS (6-3, 2-1 T-P). Seven different Lady Spartans netted at least one goal, with sophomores Hayden Bevington and Julz Anch each scoring twice to lead the onslaught.
Sophomore Eva Capozza and junior Elise Bosanko were each credited with a team-leading two assists, and goalkeeper Makiah Parris, a junior, was seldom threatened as the Lady Wolverines (6-5, 2-3 3A Southwestern) played knowing injured senior Mattie Moore would likely miss the rest of the season.
But the boss viewed Tuesday’s defeat as an opportunity, for his players to not only earn a couple of stripes, but also test themselves in unfamiliar roles with little to lose.
“I decided we’re going to start putting the younger players in positions … to see where they could fit better in a competitive atmosphere, as opposed to just a ‘training’ one,” Zoltowski said. “It’s something I’m going to be excited to try this weekend.”
“Two most notable are Tanna Owens as an outside midfielder and Kambrie (Byrd) on the defensive line,” he said. “I was really happy with what I saw and hope to … let them grow into those positions throughout the remainder of the season.”
“And girls like Jamaica (Garza), who has played center-back her whole high school career,” Zoltowski added, hinting the strong-legged senior may become a primary front-line weapon, rather than a force-multiplier anchoring the rear. “Now she gets an opportunity to try something different — and just go have fun!”
Not that either LCA or WCA will be a pushover.
“Windsor, they’re, like, a small, growing school so I don’t know if they’ll be … a challenge,” Zoltowski said. “But … we wanted to play them. Obviously we were trying to get to Denver for a Rapids game too, and (my wife) Rae Jean said, ‘Oh! I know their athletic director; I went to high school with her!’ So it worked out; we were able to set up a game! From there we just had to hunt down a second.”
Loveland Classical became that second, though first on the calendar.
Prior to hosting 2A Mile High-West rival Union Colony Prep of Greeley on Thursday (results unavailable at press time), first-year head coach Juan Orozco’s Lady Lions stood 5-5 overall and a third-place 3-2 in league behind Evergreen Clear Creek and Lafayette-based Alexander Dawson School – Nos. 5 and 7, respectively, in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll. Dawson also is the reigning state champion after a record-breaking 15-4 defeat of 2A SWLers Telluride, setting new marks for highest-scoring state championship and largest state championship goal differential.
“I think … it’s going to be a great game,” Zoltowski said. “I’ve been able to watch them on film and … it looks like they’re a pretty tough team. But I think they’re going to be a good matchup for us; they use the same formation, have a lot of the same tactics – I’m really excited to see how this one plays out.”
Hoping to become a full-fledged CHSAA athletic member institution for the ’22-’23 year, Windsor Charter hosted Aurora based Vanguard Classical-East on Wednesday and defeated the Lady Hawks 10-0. Vanguard is another present independent, but likely member of an all-new 2A/3A Foothills League next spring along with LCA, WCA and others. The win set Sarah Drips’ Lady Firebirds up well for Friday’s trip to 3A Loveland Resurrection Christian (which did not field a team in 2021), preceding Bayfield’s Saturday arrival.
“We don’t really know anything about them,” Zoltowski said, “but they don’t really know anything about us.”
Other than the fact Rae Jean Zoltowski (née Elmore) and WCA A.D. Lindsay Yost both attended Mancos Hight School with the former graduating in 1997 and the latter in 1999 (as did longtime, present-day BHS cross-country head coach Josh Walton).
“Lets you know how small the world really is, right?” quipped BHS’ skipper.
