Cheyenne East girls reach state after surviving barrage from Sheridan

May 9—CHEYENNE — Goals early in each half put the Cheyenne East girls in position to punch their ticket to the Class 4A state soccer tournament.

First, they had to survive a late barrage of shots from Sheridan to pull out a 2-1 victory during the first round of the Class 4A East Conference tournament.

"It got a little messy at the end, and we had some injuries that forced kids into roles that they don't normally play," East coach Rebecca Valdez said. "The beauty of having a senior-laden team means kids are willing to step up. They did that because they wanted to make it to state and keep playing."

Junior Brooklyn Paskett flushed a corner kick that bounced around the penalty area to give East (5-4-6) a 1-0 lead in the second minute.

Sheridan (7-7-1) nearly knotted the score midway through the first half when Juliet Kane ran onto a pass across the 18-yard box and struck a hard shot. East senior goalkeeper Aryana Booth dove to her right to make the save on the Broncs' most hair-raising chance of the first half.

East went into halftime thinking it left a few goals on the field after putting five of its nine shots on goal. The Thunderbirds went into the second half with renewed sense of purpose, and Kylie Simkins delivered the eventual game-winner off an assist from senior Jordan Griess for a 2-0 lead in the 42nd.

"We had a big talk about putting everything out there and putting it all on the line," Simkins said. "We had to play like every ball was going to be ours, and that's what I did. I just went for it."

Sheridan started ramping up its attack in the 47th minute. Willow Koltiska fired a point-blank shot with an East defender draped on her that Booth saved.

In the 51st, Sheridan's Parker Treide sent a dangerous corner kick into the six-yard box that an East defender headed over the frame and out of bounds for another corner. The Broncs capitalized on the second opportunity.

Sydney Warnke headed a Treide corner past Booth to cut the lead to 2-1.

Booth finished the match with 10 saves, eight of which came in the second half. East was able to force Sheridan to shoot from outside, but most of those shots had a great deal of pace on them.

The Broncs were extremely dangerous when they could get in close. In the 62nd, Hana Stutte ran on to the rebound of a shot and tried to get off a shot as Booth raced off her line. Stutte blasted the ball into Booth's midsection as she dove to smother the shot.

"If you stay on your line with shooters like Sheridan has, they're going to put that ball in the back of the net," Booth said. "I had to make things tough on them and try to make the save. I took a knee to the face on one of those chances, but it worked, and it was worth it.

"... We're trying to play with heart right now and do anything we can to keep winning. If I have to take one to the face, so be it."

Thursday's performance was the latest in an outstanding run for Booth, Valdez said.

"She's been getting better every game," the coach said. "She's a senior, and this means a lot to her. She's a gritty kid, and played really well. She was a leader back there, and stopped shots left and right."

East plays top-seeded Laramie (10-3-1) in the East Conference semifinals at 3 p.m. today at Okie Blanchard Stadium.

EAST 2, SHERIDAN 1

Halftime: East 1-0.

Goals: East, Paskett (unassisted), 2. East, Simkins (J. Griess), 42. Sheridan, Warnke (Treide), 51.

Shots: Sheridan 14, East 11. Shots on goal: Sheridan 11, East 7. Saves: Sheridan 5 (Lamb); East 10 (Booth).

Corner kicks: Sheridan 3, East 3. Offsides: Sheridan 2, East 0. Fouls: Sheridan 10, East 6. Yellow cards: Sheridan 1 (McMullen, 59); East 2 (Pierson, 68. Woods, 76).

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Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.