GREENWOOD VILLAGE | Lexi Meyer knew exactly what to do with the golden chance she got late Tuesday night at Stutler Bowl.
The Regis Jesuit junior midfielder found space and time in the middle of the field in the closing minute of regulation in a tie game with Cherry Creek — ranked No. 5 in the most recent CHSAANow.com Class 5A coaches poll — and she buried a shot that eventually netted her team a 3-2 victory.
Meyer’s second goal of the game came with just 36 seconds left on the clock and it allowed coach Will Cropper’s team to even its record at 1-1 on the young season. Junior Adeleine Walick also had a goal for the Raiders, who bounced back from a 2-0 loss to Cherokee Trail to open the season.
“It was really just practice, that’s the exact shot I’ve been working on and hard work pays off,” Meyer said of her game-winner. “I just trust my instincts, look to the back post and have confidence. That’s an opportunity I get a lot and it’s not really focusing on the goalie and just trusting my ability and what I can do.”
Cropper was pleased with the result given that Regis Jesuit is reloading after a double-digit group of seniors graduated from last season’s team, which nearly knocked off top-seeded Valor Christian in last season’s playoffs before losing on penalty kicks.
“We lost 10 seniors from last year, so we have a new team we’re still trying to jibe with,” he said. “We have a lack of availability of field space at school right now, so we’re finding whatever space we can to get touches for these kids.
“Our first game was a lot like this, but we just couldn’t finish and tonight we were able to get the ball in the net and capitalize on the one we needed at the end.”
The Raiders needed to put the ball in the net because they trailed by a goal on two occasions in the opening half.
Regis Jesuit got a fortunate deflection on a cross from Meyer that ended up bringing it even after it ceded the first goal and then Walick — who had eight goals last season, by far the most of the team’s returning players — drilled a shot into the upper portion of the net late in the first half to make it 2-2.
Senior goalkeeper Abby Donovan made some quality stops in the second half, which gave her team a chance to push for the go-ahead goal.
The Raiders were whistled offside on several occasions, which is something Cropper believes will improve as team
“We have a lot of eager players up top, so we’re going to get some more of those calls,” he said. “Right now, it is just a matter of getting into the flow of things with each other and knowing when this player is going to pass so they can hesitate on a run or wait a second before they go.”
Regis Jesuit turns around and plays a road game at Heritage Wednesday as part of a three-game week, then has another busy week next week with a slate that includes defending 5A state champion Grandview and top-ranked Valor Christian.
“This was a good win to give us some momentum and giving them a feel of what it is like,” Meyer said. “We’ve felt a loss, felt a win and now we know what we want to feel like after every game.”
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
Regis Jesuit 3, Cherry Creek 2
Score by halves:
Regis Jesuit 2 1 — 3
Cherry Creek 2 0 — 2
Regis Jesuit goals: Lexi Meyer 2, Adeleine Walick. Regis Jesuit assists: Sophia Armstrong, Perrie Brown, Brooke Metcalfe