Checking into the game for the final time in a regular-season game, senior star Steffie Wilson delivered one of the biggest goals of her career.
Tied 2-2 against Grand Junction with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, the Durango High School girls soccer team earned a corner-kick opportunity it wouldn't waste. DHS sophomore Madeline Robertson stepped up and delivered a perfect pass against the wind and into the box, where Wilson was waiting to put the ball in the back of the net.
The goal gave the Demons a 3-2 lead, and they went on to win 4-2 against the Tigers on Friday in their regular-season finale.
“It is a script you can't write. Steffie has put her heart and soul into the women's program for four years, and she is our game winner,” DHS head coach Dalon Parker said.
Playing on senior day at the Riverview Sports Complex, Wilson, the team's top striker, checked back into the game after a rest, hoping to lift the Demons (7-4-2, 5-3-2 Southwestern League) past Grand Junction (5-6-1, 2-4-1 SWL) in the game's final minutes.
“I think I had the advantage because they weren't expecting me to come in. They didn't know how to mark me, and I think I took them by surprise,” Wilson said of Grand Junction's defense.
“It means so much to me to score that goal. For the past four years I've been watching the seniors on my team trying to get that senior-day win, and I always played my best hoping I could support those seniors. To watch everyone playing with that much heart (Friday), I couldn't ask for anything more.”
Wilson scored the game's first goal on a penalty kick just 23 minutes into the game. But Grand Junction answered in extra time at the end of the first half when Taylor Kochevar scored on a free kick from about 30 yards out.
The Tigers took the lead 12 minutes into the second half when Taylor Chaffetz launched a shot from outside the box. Robertson tried to head the ball away from DHS goalkeeper Kelly Perry, but she accidentally sent the ball right over the head of her keeper for an own-goal.
Robertson made up for her mistake just 13 minutes later when she scored on a free kick from about 28 yards out.
“(Robertson) had an own-goal at Pine Creek earlier this year, and she kind of broke down for a lot of time, but I left her out on the field on purpose. I told her there might be a moment when she scores another own-goal, and we might need her,” Parker said. “That happened to be this day where she learned that responsibility. It was great to see her get up to that free kick, look at the goal and put it in the back of the net for us.”
Another 13 minutes after scoring, Robertson assisted Wilson's game winner.
“It was really nice to be able to get that goal back and then help my team out that way,” said Robertson, daughter of Jim and Susie Robertson. “I was trying my hardest to find my teammates with that corner kick and give them the best ball I could for them to put in the back of the net.”
DHS junior Lauren Milliet iced the game with another penalty-kick goal in the 79th minute. She was taken down hard in the box and awarded the PK. Milliet was involved in physical play in the midfield all game.
“It was a difficult game at times, but that's the name of the game. You play soccer to get physical, and I love that aspect of the game,” said Milliet, daughter of Charlie and Janis Milliet. “I look forward to getting into people; that's why I never liked basketball.”
The win was the fifth in the last six games for the Demons, who lost to Grand Junction 7-2 on March 15.
“There are so many milestones with how we finished the season. We hadn't beat Junction in three of the last four seasons. To come through in a pressure situation with so much on the line and see the girls achieve success, it's amazing,” Parker said. “We are not walking into the playoffs but running into the playoffs.”
Wilson is excited to see what her team can do in the postseason, especially riding the recent hot streak.
“We had to battle and didn't know if we would make the playoffs. With it being senior year, I want it so bad,” said Wilson, daughter of Kathy and Steve Wilson. “The team has so much potential to go pretty far in the playoffs; what a great way to end our season.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
DHS Demons
Senior Day
Sarah Bates
Kayla Born
Berekeley Davis
Rachel Rossi
Steffie Wilson
Durango Herald
