Lady Spartans fall to the Cougars to end the season.
The Lady Spartans ended with an 8-0 loss to Niwot in the first round of the 4A Playoffs. photo by Kevin Fleming
After going on a six game winning streak through the regular season, the red-hot Spartans were cooled down at the hands of the Niwot Cougars.
Tuesday afternoon, the girls traveled out to northeast Colorado to play Niwot in the first round of the playoffs. Niwot (12-2-1) was the second ranked team in 4A’s Northern Region behind only 15-0-1 Broomfield. The clash seemed to start off in favor of the Spartans, as a defensive battle continued in the second half with a score of 0-0. Yet the suffocating Cougar offense soon hit its stride as Niwot Senior Lindsay Ostrom put three goals in the net before the half.
The offense continued for Niwot as they struck the net five more times before the Lady Spartans got a wake up call. Halfway through the second half, the Spartans fell victim to injury as Senior Goalkeeper Mallory Knoll dislocated her finger after a hard shot found its way on net. Senior Captain Demi Sullivan helped rally the girls as Sophomore Rachel Newman came in for the injured Knoll, who later returned. “At that point we just started having fun, playing our own game, and they struggled to score again,” stated Sullivan of their second half performance.
“Even though we didn’t pull out the win, it was the best last game I could have played with the girls,” said Sullivan.
