Ryan Cederquist/Vail Daly
The Vail Christian women's soccer team ended its 2024 season on a high note Wednesday, defeating Holland 1-0 on a rainy afternoon at Freedom Park in Edwards.
“There's no question about it, these girls are really tough,” second-year head coach Andrea Yukaitis said after the team finished the season with a 4-7 record. “I'm very happy to prove that we can still win, that we can still score, and that we're strong defensively. I think we've come a really long way.”
April was a story of two halves for Vail Christian. In a five-day span starting April 11, the Saints improved to 3-4, defeating Colorado Rocky Mountain School, Moffat County, and Lake County. They followed that three-game winning streak with a three-game losing streak, then turned it around in Wednesday's final game of the season.
“Today was definitely the best I've ever seen our team play,” senior Lindsey Whitton said. “We felt connected, we felt cohesive, we felt team chemistry. So it was definitely a big growth from start to finish.”
The Saints got things going two minutes into the game when Whitton ran across the field and centered the ball to Rebecca Flores. Flores took a powerful kick from the top of the 18-yard box. Dutch goalkeeper Trinity LeBlanc made a diving one-handed save, but the ball hit her right mitt and bounced into the lap of Saints forward Sam Loredo. The sophomore gently tapped in a 10-yard rebound with the inside of his right foot.
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From there, it was just defense and grit as the sun finally started to come out late in the second half.
“I would say this is a defensive battle,” Flores said. “We went into this game thinking, 'We have to win.' It's senior night, so we started really hard and fought the whole game.”
The Saints graduate four seniors from the 2024 roster. Whitton and Flores, along with Maggie Rosenberg and Shannon Lyle, are two familiar faces from last fall's league champion volleyball team. Wednesday's game was the final warm-up game for everyone except Whitton. Whitton will run several distance races this weekend at the Western Slope League track and field meet in Grand Junction.
“It feels really weird,” said Lyle, who plans to attend the University of Denver next year to study real estate, when asked how she was processing the final page of her high school chapter.
“It’s bittersweet,” added Rosenberg, a future student at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. “I've played every sport for four years and this is my last time.”
Flores will attend Colorado State University, and Whitten will run track and cross country at Boston University. The four-sport athlete is recognized for his excellent running ability and for winning the past three state ski master titles (awarded to Colorado's best combined alpine and nordic skier). As it is known, growing up in Denver was all about soccer.
“I loved the sport,” Whitton said, adding, “I was lucky to have coaches who accommodated my very busy schedule.”
“We’re going to miss them,” Jukaitis said of the four seniors. “They're our starters, they're our captains, they're great leaders. They set the tone and tempo of the game. There's a confidence that they exude when they step on the field, and I think the younger players will see that. ”
Flores said he feels the seniors are leaving the program with “new motivation.”
“I think we will leave the program with our girls having a greater sense of competition and motivation to keep getting better,” she said. “It's been a great four years. We're all really close. It's more like a big group of friends than a soccer team.”
