Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — After Tuesday night's 5-0 win over Alexander Dawson, the members of the Steamboat Springs High School girls soccer team headed to Pisa's to celebrate as a team.

And why not?

It was the entire team that had just rocked one of the Front Range's top teams in a 5-0 contest at Gardner Field in front of the loyal hometown fans.

"The first half was the best half of soccer we've played all season," Steamboat senior Julie Wernig said after the game.

"We finally came together and it was a total team effort."

Steamboat senior Lia Utu scored the only goal Steamboat would need 25 minutes into the first half after getting an assist from Wernig.

Wernig netted her own goal just three minutes later, assisted by Andrea Len. Steamboat sophomore Melissa White closed out the first half by scoring an unassisted goal with 6:19 remaining.

"It was a tremendous first half," Sailors coach Rob Bohlmann said. "The girls were coming off of a tough loss on Friday (to Glenwood Springs) and this game will help us build some momentum."

Steamboat unleashed seven shots on goal in the first half and dominated the possession. Alexander Dawson fired only one shot on goal in the first half and had only a handful of opportunities during the game.

In the second half, the Sailors kept the pressure on Dawson goalkeeper Hailey Anderson.

Sophomore Sarah Pallotti collided with Anderson while chasing down a loose ball in front of the Dawson goal midway through the half. Both players fell to the ground but Pallotti was able to scramble back to her feet and tap the ball into the back of the net for the score. Steamboat's Nikki Garth grabbed the final goal later in the half, sending a shot just over the outreached hands of Anderson, to complete the Sailors' scoring spree.

"We just came off of a two-week break, and it's still very early in the season for us," Dawson coach Mindy Sclaro said. "We wanted to use this game to measure where we are at in the season. Steamboat is a very good team and they proved it tonight. We played well at the start, but we still have some work to do."

The loss was Dawson's first of the season. The Mustangs came into the game unbeaten but left with a 2-1-1 record.

Steamboat is now 3-4-1 for the season and will take the momentum from this game into a contest with Battle Mountain Thursday in Minturn.

"I think the game against Glenwood was a real wake-up call," Wernig said. "It's not going to come as easy this season. We have been working so hard in practice and we have to bring that same intensity to the field for every game. We did that tonight."