Tight defense

nitely thought we could win,” Pugliese said. “Once we saw one (goal) go in we could feel them come. We thought we could totally do this.”

Columbine prevented the shutout with a goal by senior Sydney Somers in the 77th minute. e Rebels were still without leading scorer — senior Andrea Iljkic — who is with the Croatia national team for a few more days.

“I didn’t feel very comfortable,” Fowkes admitted despite the Wildcats never trailing. “I was nervous because a team like Columbine can come back at any time. ey are a quality team.”

Columbine dropped its second straight game with a 4-1 loss to Ralston Valley (7-3, 2-0) on April 14 at the North Area Athletic Complex.

A-West was back at Lakewood Memorial Field at the end of the week to square off against Chatfield in another 5A Jeffco League match. The Wildcats suffered a 4-2 loss to the Chargers.

The loss put the Wildcats a game behind Chatfield, Ralston Valley and Valor Christian in the race for the 5A Jeffco League title.

Fowkes is in his first season as the head coach for the Wildcats and has A-West in the conversation for a conference title.

“I hope we have a nice run this season,” Fowkes said. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Jeffco Public Schools. For more Jeffco coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.