GREENWOOD VILLAGE | When an apparent penalty kick attempt got taken away with less than two minutes left in Tuesday night’s Centennial League contest, the Cherokee Trail girls soccer team’s prime chance to beat Cherry Creek seemed to slip away.
But the Cougars didn’t dwell on the disappointment for long, as they played hard to the end and eventually got the game-winning goal.
Freshman Madisyn Bagby took a feed from senior Alesia Garcia just outside the top of the goal box and lofted a shot into the corner of the net with just 21.2 seconds left to give Cherokee Trail a 3-2 victory over the Bruins at Stutler Bowl.
Garcia and freshman Chloe Jackson scored first half goals for coach Jeremy Schaller’s Cougars, who moved to 6-2 with their first win over Cherry Creek since the 2015 regular season.
Cherokee Trail had a pair of one-goal leads in the opening half, but sophomore forward Grace Sublette matched each goal for the Bruins to send the game into the break tied 2-2.
Both teams pushed for the go-ahead goal and the Cougars appeared they would have a good chance to get one when Garcia was taken down in the goal box with just under two minutes left. Instead, the referee called a foul on Garcia before the takedown, which resulted in a free kick going to Cherry Creek.
Garcia finished with two assists and sophomore goalkeeper Paige Hickman stopped seven of the nine shots she faced in the net for Cherokee Trail.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL 3, CHERRY CREEK 2
Score by halves:
Cher. Trail 2 1 — 3
Cherry Creek 2 0 — 2
Cherokee Trail goals: Madisyn Bagby, Alesia Garcia, Chloe Jackson. Cherry Creek goals: Grace Sublette 2. Cherokee Trail assists: Garcia 2. Cherry Creek assists: Kaitlin Glover 2. Cherokee Trail saves: Paige Hickman (9 shots on goal-7 saves).