'Stangs blow into the 2nd round
Kendall Smith, Mattea Parsons get the goals in a 2-0 victory in the Class 4A playoffs; Mullen will head to Steamboat Springs on Saturday for Round 2.
The grind that is the Colorado soccer playoffs is on and Mullen has a place in line.
The Mustangs moved past a scoreless first half to down visiting Golden 2-0 on Wednesday in the first round of Class 4A.
They moved to 11-5 on the season and will travel to Steamboat Springs (13-2), which beat Denver North 4-2, on Saturday, 11 a.m., a trip to the mountains.
Head coach Matt Degitis appreciated his team’s effort on a warm and -- yet another -- windy late afternoon.
And Mullen’s jitters were blown away quickly.
“More than anything,” the coach said, “we got control of our nerves and were just ready to grind. We knew Golden would make it a messy game and the ball would be out of bounds a lot, and we just had to hustle and recover, hustle and recover against (the Demons’) big balls … but we found a way.”
Both Mullen scores came from sophomores – Kendall Smith early in the second half and Mattea Parsons late.
Degitis called the two scores “beautiful.”
And Smith said her game-winner came off “an unlucky touch, but it turned out to work in my favor to put it into position.” The pass, she said, “went in between my legs, but it put me in perfect position. No one was around me.”
Brooklynn Rich and Stella Zinis, another sophomore, had assists.
Junior Olivia Incitti turned in four saves.
MULLEN 2, GOLDEN 0
Golden 0 0 -- 0
Mullen 0 2 -- 2
Mullen goals – Kendall Smith, Mattea Parsons.
Mullen assist – Brooklynn Rich, Stella Zinis.
Mullen saves – Olivia Incitti 4.
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