NIWOT — The margin for error dwindled as the rain grew stronger in Tuesday night’s Skyline-Niwot girls’ soccer game.
None of it would spoil an expert standoff in goal, though, as the Falcons and Cougars settled for a scoreless stalemate.
“Obviously, I was hoping she would make a mistake,” Skyline junior netminder Lauren Pratt smiled as she talked about a counterpart who was just as good on this night, Mariah Fletemeyer. “That’s all you can hope for, really.”
Flawless, in conditions anything but — Pratt and Fletemeyer took turns making stops amid a second-half downpour, each time saving their playoff-hopeful team from bigger heartache.
Pratt had five saves in her eighth shutout of the season, and Fletemeyer had nine to give her six clean sheets, leaving their teams (with 10 days left in the regular season) in a good spot to make Class 4A’s 32-team postseason field.
The Falcons (7-3-1, 4-2-1 4A/3A Longs Peak League) came into the night ranked 18th in CHSAA’s Selection and Seeding Index as they look for a playoff berth for the first time since 2018. Niwot (7-3-3, 4-1-2) was 22nd and is hoping to qualify for the third time in four seasons after missing a year ago.
“That’s what you need in the playoffs. You have to be willing to play with these razor-thin margins,” Niwot coach Stephen Dimit said. “If we’re learning that, in the rain against a rival, I think we’re in a really good spot.”
Even as the chances got better as it got later, neither defense blinked.
A few minutes after halftime, Pratt denied an awkward, arching shot while slamming into her own post. A chance playing like one of those weak but dangerous popups you see in baseball or softball, Pratt scrambled deep into her box to get underneath it. The ensuing collision hurt, she laughed. “But I’m good.”
“When we need her, she steps up,” Skyline coach Luis Chavez said.
Then the attention went on Niwot’s sophomore netminder late.
With minutes to go, she dove to her right to deny a hard shot after Aniah Dothard slipped by her defense. Not long after she looked as if she got a hand on a chance from Falcons captain Charlotte Manes, tipping it just wide enough that it clanked into the post.
“The ball is all that matters in those moments,” Fletemeyer said. “And my teammates are all that matter in those moments.”
Skyline is home against No. 50 Frederick on Thursday before traveling to No. 41 Silver Creek on Saturday. Niwot is at No. 10 Thompson Valley on Thursday before finishing the season at No. 61 Roosevelt on April 30.
