Heading into the 2017 season’s final two matches, Ignacio head coach Daniel Sanchez noted with a pleased grin that the squad had given up 30 goals – at least – fewer than last spring.

He will have the better part of a year to figure out how to replace a vital part of that statistic: recently graduated senior defender Ryley Webb.

A steadying influence in the Lady Bobcats’ back row, but also able to push the ball through the midfield in hopes of creating runs toward the enemy’s penalty area (she also netted the team’s lone goal, in a 3-1 loss at Del Norte), Webb was recently named Second Team All-Southwestern, a.k.a. Intermountain League.

Also named to the Second Team were: Center sophomore goalkeeper Giselle Almeida, Bayfield senior defender Lenka Doskocil, Pagosa Springs junior forward/midfielder Alyssa Lewis and junior defender Isabelle Pajak, Montezuma-Cortez senior Cassidy Leonard, Telluride’s Ava Jodlowski and Samantha Morrell, Ridgway junior Hadassah Gates, Alamosa junior Katy Gallegos and Crested Butte Community School’s Tess Fenerty.

Pagosa Springs HS senior forward/midfielder Hannah Marnocha topped the 20-goal mark and was named not only First Team All-SWL, but also Player-of-the-Year after helping the Lady Pirates finish 13-4 overall and reach the Class 3A State Tournament’s second round.  There, the team’s season would end via a lopsided loss to eventual State Champions The Academy from Westminster, Colo.

But prior to a first-round State win over Sterling, Pagosa Springs went 10-1 versus the whole 3A/2A SWL, and 6-0 versus its 3A side – helped by Goalie-of-the-Year Diana Scott, a sophomore, and Coach-of-the-Year Lindsey Kurt-Mason – during the regular season.

Also named First Team All-League off the team’s roster were senior midfielder Hayley Mitchell and senior defender Addie Thompson. Senior defender Isabelle deLuca and senior goalie/midfielder Whitney Wells represented Telluride on the First Team, after the Lady Miners reached the second round of the 12-team Class 2A State Tournament, ultimately losing to Littleton-based school team, Front Range Christian.

THS finished 11-4-1 overall, 9-2-1 versus the full league and 6-1-1 against its 2A side.

Ridgway sophomore Finn Doherty and junior Emma Haaland also earned First Team nods after the Lady Demons also reached the State Tournament’s second round, ultimately losing to Denver Christian and finishing 10-5-1 overall, 9-3-1 in league (7-1-1 versus the 2A side).

Junior scoring machine, Katie Parkins, credited with a devastating 42 goals in Alamosa’s 14 total matches, was an easy First Team All-League choice, as were BHS junior Savannah Kaufmann (16g) and M-CHS senior Rylee Lindsley (11g).  CBCS sophomore F/GK Rachael Potoker rounded out the First Team selections, having netted nearly a half-dozen goals and prevented many more in helping the Lady Titans log six victories and a tie in their first official varsity season.