Mustangs ground Sailors
Beat Steamboat Springs at home.
It has turned into a very resilient Mullen team.
The Mustangs have gotten it together after a 3-5 start. They have won eight matches in succession, most recently 15-7 over Steamboat Springs at a very wet Brother Bernard Kinneavy Field at De La Salle Stadium on Tuesday in the first round of the Colorado playoffs.
Over the span, the Mustangs have outscored the opposition by a combined 125-35, so they’re getting it done at both ends.
And now they move on to the second round, where they will meet Cherry Creek, the Centennial League champion they finished second to and a team that beat them 13-3 on April 4.
Color Mullen (11-5) streaky – it won its first three matches, dropped the next five and has won the past eight. The Mustangs seem to be experiencing more growth than the weeds and cheap-looking apartment buildings around the metropolitan area.
“It’s really exciting,” Mustangs senior Emerson Johnson said. “I think our team has come a long way from the beginning of the season.”
And the reason, Johnson added, “is we’re working more as a team and not playing as individuals, which really helps. We’ve kind of found our dynamic.”
Goalie Izzy Cisneros has proof, she said, after her strong game in net “as our defense is really helping out.”
She credited the likes of Gabby Rueth, Sydney Bullen and Megan Fenwick for making it easier on the defensive end.
“We played well, but were quiet in the first half,” Mustangs head coach Melynda Brown said, “and in the second half, we started winning draws and I got my (substitutions) in, which is what I wanted to do.”
Johnson again led the way with six goals. Molly Gilbert added four and four others combined for the other five.
“Just a good team win,” Brown said as the Mustangs never trailed and rolled. Plus, they kept a relative lid on the Sailors’ Riley Schott and Lucy Shimek, who combined for 102 goals during the regular season.
Steamboat Springs ended 9-5.
Now, Mullen also must play a bit of a waiting game. Its rematch with Cherry Creek already comes with a contingency plan. The match is scheduled for Friday, 5:45 p.m., at the Stutler Bowl in Greenwood Village. However, Brown said, if the Centennial League track-and-field meet slated for Thursday is delayed by weather problems – and we’re supposed to have a couple of days of rain and snow – it will take over the Stutler Bowl and try to be completed by Friday.
It also would change the Mullen-Cherry Creek match to Friday, 3:30 p.m., at Legacy Stadium in Aurora.
No matter when it is, Brown said, “we have to come with intensity and focus on playing our game to match up with (the Bruins). If we want to advance, we have to beat them.”
MULLEN 15, STEAMBOAT SPRINGS 7
Steamboat Springs 3 4 -- 7
Mullen 8 7 -- 15
Mullen goals – Emerson Johnson 6, Molly Gilbert 4, Charlie Beck 2, Grace Archibald, Elise Bialecki, Haley Vanek.
Mullen assists – Archibald, Bialecki, Gilbert, Johnson.
Mullen saves – Izzy Cisneros 9.
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