Pueblo County, Pueblo Centennial knocked out of first round of CHSAA girls soccer playoffs

Playoff season is upon us and two girls soccer programs from Pueblo competed in the first round of the CHSAA Class 4A playoffs on Wednesday.

Pueblo County and Pueblo Centennial high schools both qualified for the playoffs coming out of the South-Central League, with Centennial on the road against Windsor and County playing at home against Montrose.

Unfortunately for both squads, their time in the postseason was short-lived: both the Hornets and the Bulldogs were bounced from the playoffs with losses Wednesday night.

Battling wet and windy conditions in addition to their opponents, the Hornets lost 2-0 to Montrose while the Bulldogs lost their matchup 7-0.

Hornets stung by Red Hawks

Pueblo County was favored in its matchup against Montrose, however, the team was dealing with injuries coming into the game.

The first half seemed to be a feeling-out process for both teams as they were trying to adjust to not only each other, but the weather as well: wind, rain, and even a bit of distant thunder and lightning were present on the pitch.

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Late in the first half, County conceded a goal to head into the locker room down 1-0 at halftime. In the second half, the Hornets came out ready to launch an attack, but Montrose refused to give ground.

Three minutes into the second half, the Hornets tried to clear the ball from the 18-yard box with a header, but the wind caught the ball and hung it up in the air in the box, allowing Montrose to get a head on it and knock it into the back of the net.

With the 2-0 lead, Montrose never looked back. The Red Hawks were locked in defensively and did not allow the Hornets to advance the ball for much of the second half. County’s Pierson Weimer was essentially shut out by the Red Hawks defense, with two or sometimes three defenders swarming her every time she touched the ball.

There were few passing lanes for the Hornets to work with and the team was unable to rally. Their season ended with the 2-0 loss.

Hornets head coach Bailey Thomas was heartbroken, but proud of her team after the loss.

“These girls don't give up, they just keep going,” Thomas said. “We have some injuries that we're putting up with right now and so to come out and give it their all, it’s big. And they've done that all season long. I think something to commend even more so than the type of soccer players that they are (is that) they are all even better people. So I’m just proud of them.”

Thomas said the first-round exit was obviously not how the team wanted to go out this season, but they are excited to see what next year brings as they are only losing one senior and will be returning many of their starters. The Hornets finish the year 12-2-2 with a 9-0-1 record in the S-CL.

Wizards have the magic touch over the Bulldogs

Centennial was on the road against Windsor, and had to deal with the same unfavorable weather conditions up north as the Hornets did down south.

Windsor was a heavy favorite in this matchup, but the Bulldogs did not go down without a fight. They kept the game close at halftime, heading into the locker room down 2-0.

In the second half, however, the Wizards turned up the heat. They poured in five more goals for a final score of 7-0.

Bulldogs head coach Jeff Sterling commended his team for a strong season.

"Windsor was a very good team and many of our girls had never seen competition like that," Sterling said. "We had an outstanding season and made a tremendous improvement during the season to advance to the playoffs. It's very difficult to get there and we got a tough draw but overall (it was) a great experience and a fantastic season."

The Bulldogs finished the year 10-3-2 with a 7-2-1 record in the S-CL.

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Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter: @chowebacca

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo County, Centennial bounced from Colorado girls soccer playoffs