Jackson girls come from behind to beat Sheridan

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Jackson Lady Broncs overcame an early Sheridan goal and bided their time until they had a 40-mph wind behind their shots to secure a 2-1 win and move on to Round 2 in the state championships in Cheyenne Thursday.

Jackson 2, Sheridan 1

Forty minutes into play on Thursday and Jackson goalkeeper Sidney Nash would probably like to forget her trip to Cheyenne. The typical wind tunnel in the southeast part of the state was cranked up to 11 as Nash found it difficult to do most anything she normally does in a soccer match.

Communication with her mates was nearly impossible—her shouted instructions returned windblown to her own ears without ever reaching her defenders Brooklyn Hills and Jordan Davis. And her goal kicks…forget about it.

Twenty-five minutes into the contest, Nash was finally a victim of the gale-force winds. A cautious goal kick, which had to be held in place by a Sheridan attacker lest the ball blow away before Nash could put a toe to it, went straight to a Sheridan player and back at the Jackson goalie before she could even think about getting back in net.

Still, the Lady Broncs had to feel fortunate to be down just 1 goal at the half.

Jackson knew their time was coming and arrive it did when Nash finally got to play a little offense and booted a wind-aided bomb 70 yards downfield to a streaking Phoebe Alva Rosa. The senior forward knocked it home for the tying goal and no one was more excited than Nash, whose cele caught the motion-sensor NFHS camera instead of the play itself.

The game-winner was Alva Rosa’s as well as Jackson pressed the issue until 5:24 to go in regulation when a beautifully placed header by Brooklyn Hills got play turned in the other direction. Alva Rosa took it from there.

The senior scoring machine drove up the right side with Piper Lee zooming down the left for the backdoor option. Alva Rosa elected to shoot herself from a bad angle, but the angle was the only thing bad about her shot as she deked inside and put a left foot to a screamer just under the bar for the GWG that would hold up.

Next up

The road to a state title looks like a rocky one for the Lady Broncs. Jackson (12-4-2) moves on to face defending champs Rock Springs (13-2-2) who slipped past Laramie 4-3 in the 1st round.

Jackson split with the Lady Tigers during the regular season with a 4-3 win and a 2-0 loss. Today’s game is scheduled for 4pm.