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Steamboat Springs — Going into the 2007 spring season, Steamboat Springs girls soccer coach Rob Bohlmann thought the Delta Panthers would be this year's dark horse in the Western Slope League.

Delta certainly surprised Steamboat with a close and competitive game on Saturday by minimizing Steamboat's offensive chances. But the Sailors (6-1) were able to find the net once and emerge with a 1-0 win.

"They were a lot better team than we expected, and they caught us off guard," Steamboat's Amanda Tegtmeier said. "But we pulled it together. We missed a couple goal opportunities but got one in, and that's all that counts."

The one Steamboat got came 30 minutes into the game on a free kick placed 25 yards out from the Delta goal. Freshman Emily Birch lofted a shot over the wall of Delta fullbacks and into the nearside, top corner of the goal.

"The goalie wasn't getting near that shot," Steamboat assistant coach Leland Bourdon said.

Bourdon said that despite the tight score, Steamboat had the majority of possession time between the boxes and although the skilled Delta tandem of center backs were able to shut down many scoring chances, Steamboat had ample offensive pressure. This translated to a few choice scoring opportunities, like the Lauren Letson pass to a Mandi DeVos volley, which the Sailors could not finish.

In a second half Bourdon described as a "well-fought battle," Delta had a golden opportunity with the first penalty kick Steamboat has seen all season.

"Her hips went one way and the shot went the other," Steamboat goalie Hanna Berglund said. "She fooled me, but she missed the goal."

Berglund thought her defense, "played solid," handled the pressure from repeat Delta breakaways well and improved from their Friday game at Eagle Valley.

"We just have to learn to play together as a team, we have the players and the skills," Tegtmeier said. "Once we start making those connections, we could be unstoppable."

Steamboat returns home for its next three games, starting at 5:45 p.m. Thursday against Glenwood Springs.