Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — It was business as usual for the members of the Steamboat Springs High School girls soccer team on Monday afternoon.

But for a number of high school teams in the state, business is over. The field was cut in half last week and after Wednesday, only four girls' soccer teams will still have a shot at a state title in the 4A division Steamboat is hoping to be one of them.

The sixth-ranked Steamboat Springs Sailors will put their season on the line against the high-flying Broomfield Eagles at 5 p.m. at the Elizabeth Kennedy field in Broomfield tonight. If they win, the Sailors will move into the semis. If they lose, it's all over for another year.

"They are real good," Steamboat's Bernadette Norman said of the Eagles. "Nobody on our team is going into the game saying we are going to lose, but nobody is saying we are going to win either. We are all pretty nervous right now."

The two teams met on the playing field just a few weeks ago in a scrimmage. No scores were officially recorded, but Sailors head coach Jim Dudley said the two teams played a very even game.

Steamboat is coming off of a 3-0 win over Conifer last Friday night at Dudley Field here in Steamboat Springs. The Sailors scored in the opening minutes of the game and controlled the first round playoff game from start to finish. But the coaches and players are not expecting that tonight in Broomfield.

"We need to start off hard and keep it up the whole game," Norman said

The Eagles are 15-2-0 this season and shut down No. 15 Pueblo Centennial (13-3-0) in a 4-0 first-round game.

"I'm glad we got to play them earlier this season," Sailors assistant coach Jon Hawes said.

The coach thinks that the experience will help his players come out and play their game from the start instead of taking those first minutes of the game to figure out the other team.