Alamosa and Del Norte host in Round 1

Sophia McConnell followed by Kaylie Metz works to bring the ball upfield for Del Norte during their victory over Crested Butte on May 1.

ALAMOSA — Powerful performances through the regular season have led us to this point. The Valley will host two Round 1 State Championship Girls’ Soccer games this week. Alamosa will take on the Atlas Preparatory School’s Gryphons Wednesday at 5 p.m. on AHS field. While Del Norte will take on Colorado Springs School’s Kodiaks tonight at 5 p.m. on Speiser Field in front of the Tiger faithful.  

Alamosa (13-2-0) has been largely dominant all season regardless of their opponents. The Moose got revenge on their own league with a flawless 6-0 record. Alamosa also took care of business for the most part when they went down a class going 5-1 in 2A. And when the ladies mixed it up in 3A outside the Intermountain league they were 2-1.

The two stains on their record came at the hands of Basalt at the beginning of the season and Ridgeway at the end.

Jazmine Palacios gets ahead of the ball to keep it inbounds in Alamosa's win over Ignacio April 19. Both the Tigers and Moose will be hosting State Tournament Round 1 games. (Courier photos by Stephen Jiron)

When they switch gears into playoff mode their first opponent will be Atlas Preparatory (8-4-0). The Gryphons hail from Colorado Springs and haven’t faced a great deal of highly-ranked opponents. Their strongest loss was  11th ranked St. Mary’s while their strongest win was over number 43. Lamar.

Far and away Atlas Prep’s main weapon is junior Jesenia Valdez. Valdez has 30 goals this season and averages three goals a game. Valdez’s scoring total is fifteen times higher than her next closest teammate and will look to be the one to keep an eye on. The assists come from her teammates Geeselle Barahona and Arelette Duran.  Alamosa has likely familiarized themselves with all three.

Admission to AHS field will be $7 for adults and $5 for students. Should the Moose clear the Gryphons on Wednesday their next challenge will be a trip to Parker, CO to face the number five Lutheran Lions (12-2-0) in Round 2 on May 12.

Del Norte (11-4-0) got off to a somewhat rocky start to the season taking two losses in their first three games at the hands of Alamosa and Salida. Since then the Tigers were able to stitch together a 5-2 league record, and despite a second place finish in their district, a playoff berth.  
Del Norte has continually shown grit this season going up a class and earning a 5-2 record in 3A, even picking up a win in 4A over Woodland Park. Though the Tigers placed second behind Crested Butte in the District they defeated the Titans head-to-head in a 3-2 overtime match.
Tonight Del Norte will start their playoff journey with a home game against Colorado Springs School.

The Kodiaks (4-9-1) entered the playoffs on the wrong end of .500. Worse, three of  the four wins Colorado Springs School earned came against opponents who combined for a 2-38-1 record to close the season. The win that the Kodiaks likely hangs their hats on came against 3A’s Rye in a 4-3 2OT match.

Beyond Colorado Springs School lies Fountain Valley. With a win tonight Del Norte will travel to Colorado Springs next weekend to face Fountain Valley’s Danes (12-3-0) in the 2A Quarterfinals on May 11.