RAPIDS WOMEN SET TO DEFEND CONFERENCE TITLE AFTER CLINCHING ROCKIES DIVISION

Written & Photo By: Andrew Mosier | WPSL Correspondent

The Colorado Rapids Women made a statement Monday, clinching the Rockies Division title with a 9-0 road win at Broomfield Burn to keep a perfect 8-0-0 on the season.
 

“We really took it up a notch today,” Sebastian Giraldo, Rapids head coach, said. “To clinch the division with a win like this really says how much it means to everyone on this team. There is something really special with this group.”

In the win, Alyssa Glover had three goals, Ran Iwai contributed a brace, and Marianna Annest, Ella Frost, Camryn MacMillan, and Ella Moody also scored for the Rapids Women.

Kyleigh Hall, who’s started in goal for the Rapid all season, earned her fourth consecutive shutout. Hall has conceded only two goals and leads the WPSL with six shutouts.

Were it not for the brute force of Mother Nature, the Rapids Women had the opportunity to clinch the division a week earlier, at its final home match of the regular season at Regis University.

The Rapids were up 1-0 over a Flatirons Rush, thanks to an early MacMillan (Denver University) goal when severe, slow-moving storms that dumped heavy rain and hail across the Denver metropolitan area forced the game to be stopped 20 minutes into the first half. As the game has no bearing in divisional standings, it will not be played to a conclusion.

The Rapids Women would have to wait another five days to claim the division title. Though coming out on the front foot, the Rapids Women were unable to find an early first goal.

“The first 15 minutes of the game was rough for us. The field was a little narrower than we are used to, so that took a bit of adjusting to,” Giraldo said. “We had to play more balls over the top than we normally would. But once we settled in, it was pretty devastating.”

Iwai (Florida State University) opened the scoring with her first goal of the season by pouncing on a rebound after Burn goalkeeper Brooklyn Kirkpatrick (Youngstown State University) could not hold a knuckling shot off Glover’s right foot in the 16^th minute. Iwai doubled the score, and her tally on the season, in the 22^nd minute off a threading pass from her college teammate, Sophia Nguyen.

Annest (University of Alabama) made it 3-0 in the 34^th minute, hammering home a well-weighted pass from Abby Gearhart (University of Montana) 20 yards from goal.

Glover netted her first of three two minutes after the start of the second half by running onto a through ball from Jordan Crockett. Glover made it 5-0 in the 49^th minute with an easy pass into the open goal after Broomfield could not clear the ball. Glover is second in scoring for the Rapids Women with six goals on the season and trails Reese McDermott (Colorado School of Mines) in the golden boot race by one goal.

Frost (University of Denver) got her second goal on the season in the 53^rd minute, tapping in a cross from Claire Silverman (Brown University), followed by McMillan (University of Denver), who calmly chipped the goalkeeper after receiving a pinpoint 60-yard ball from Annest in the 59^th minute.

Glover bagged her third two minutes later, running onto a through ball played by Nguyen from the middle of the park, followed by Moody, who smashed home her first goal of the season from the top of the penalty area with 13 minutes to play.

The Rapids Women close out the Rockies Division schedule Friday, June 30 at the Colorado Pride (6-1-2, 20 points). The Pride was one of two teams to score on the Rapids Women this season. The Rapids Women won 3-1 in both clubs’ season opener. With 20 points, the Pride will finish second behind the Rapids Women in the Rockies Division in consecutive years.

As division champions the Rapids Women will host Wasatch Division winners, Utah Avalanche, in the Mountain Conference title match Saturday, July 8 on their home field at Regis University. The Avalanche (7-0-1) went unbeaten for a second straight year en route to the Wasatch Division title - the club’s second since the Mountain Conference was split into the Wasatch and Rockies divisions for the 2022 season.

“Now we can turn an eye towards the Avalanche and the conference championship,” Giraldo said. “We still have to take it one game at a time, but you can see we’re working on little layers of our game that will prepare us for what’s up next.”

This is the second consecutive year the two clubs have faced each other in the Mountain Conference championship match. Last year, in Salt Lake City, the Rapids won 5-1.

The winner of the Mountain Conference championship advances to the Central Regional semifinal at a site yet to be determined July 15 and 16. The four regional champions meet for the WPSL championship in Stillwater, Okla. July 22 and 23.