The snowstorm knocked out so many games later in the week that it’s pretty difficult to even mention any critical matches. Much of the action took place earlier, on Tuesday in particular, but it will take weeks to resolve the snowed-out games.
Chatfield (Littleton) turned in a 3-0 win against Bear Creek on Tuesday, giving the Chargers some hope after a 0-2 start to the season.
"(Our best performance) was our last one," Chargers coach Brock Blume said.
There are a couple reasons why the Chargers haven’t been a winning squad out of the gate. First, they faced some rough competition in Grandview and Fort Collins. Chatfield also has had to adjust to having only three returning starters back from its 19-0-1 team of last season. All those newcomers still have to face opponents bent on bringing down a high-profile team.
"When we lost one of those games, (the winners) were saying, ‘Yeah, we just beat the state champs’ " Blume said.
It probably will be just as intense for the rest of the Class 5A Jefferson County League matches. Columbine (Littleton) (5-1) and Arvada West (5-1-1) already have established themselves as potent squads.
Dakota Ridge right now is at the .500 level, but the Eagles started out with notable victories against Fairview and D’Evelyn. D’Evelyn rode over Summit 9-0 last week, on the road, after beating Evergreen 6-1 at Lakewood Memorial.
"Every year, you look and it pretty much takes an undefeated (league) record to win the Jeffco title," Blume said.
D'Evelyn (Denver) wasn’t the only Jeffco team to win quite easily last week, but a couple squads outscored the Jaguars by one goal. Wheat Ridge, 10-0 against Arvada, and Golden, 10-0 against Englewood, were not challenged.
Western Slope notables
Durango was thrashed by Front Range schools Lewis-Palmer and Green Mountain in the Demons’ first two matches. Since then, though, Durango has turned it around with victories against Bear Creek, 3-2; Grand Junction Central, 1-0; Fruita Monument, 1-0; and Grand Junction, 2-1.
Pagosa Springs, 9-0 against Ignacio; Coal Ridge, 4-0 against Rifle; and Basalt, 8-0 against Grand Valley, were other big winners.
4A Northern tough at the top
Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins) did well for Front Range teams and the Class 4A Northern League with a 5-0 win against Bayfield, after the Sabercats had to make a long trip from Fort Collins. Fossil Ridge did have a 1-0 win against the Fort Collins Lambkins in the teams’ season opener.
Silver Creek and Broomfield are other powerhouse teams from the Northern League, at least against teams in their own classification. Niwot, Longmont, Skyline and Frederick all have winning records.
So does Greeley West, but it’s difficult to assess. Perhaps it’s that Greeley West has fattened up on the easy teams on the schedule, yet the perennial power Spartans have not won against Niwot, Broomfield or Silver Creek.
Upcoming games
One can never be sure, but it looks as if there will be some good ones before the end of this week.
Holy Family travels to defending Class 3A champion St. Mary’s on Wednesday and the Tigers are thus far undefeated. Pine Creek at Lewis-Palmer is another top-notch game, on Thursday. Two teams with good talent and not-great records also meet on Thursday when Heritage travels to Mountain Vista.
On Friday, there’s The Academy at Middle Park, Air Academy at Rocky Mountain and Pine Creek at Highlands Ranch, weather permitting.
