DENVER — It was a successful trip up north for Palmer Ridge’s field hockey squad on Monday.
The Bears — No. 6 in the latest CHSAANow.com field hockey rankings — took a 3-0 road victory against Dakota Ridge at the Rocky Mountain Deaf School field in Jeffco.
“It was really fun. We were all really hyped,” Palmer Ridge junior Mei-Li Mikos said. “It was a really fun ride on the bus.”
Palmer Ridge kept the fun going with goals by Mikos in the first and third periods to take a 2-0 lead. Both of the goals came off corners.
“On those corners we really gelled as a team,” Mikos said of the Bears scoring all three goals off set pieces. “It worked really well.”
Sophomore Channing Howarth sealed the victory for Palmer Ridge with a blast that got past Dakota Ridge sophomore goalie Annie Diesslin to make it a 3-0 win.
It was the third straight shutout victory for the Bears (3-1 record). Palmer Ridge lost its opener 4-1 against No. 2 Regis, but have responded outscoring Poudre School District, Liberty and Dakota Ridge by a combined score of 6-0.
Sophomore Sakari David got the shutout victory in net for the Bears against Dakota Ridge.
“Our team is really gelling together well,” Mikos said. “We are looking really good.”
Palmer Ridge was the No. 4 seed for the state tournament last year, but suffered a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Arapahoe to end the Bears’ season. In 2020, Palmer Ridge lost in the state semifinals to Cherry Creek.
Dakota Ridge — the lone field hockey team in Jeffco — is coming off a season where it won its first playoff game. The Eagles defeated Denver East in a play-in game.
“We have a lot of new players this year that are learning,” said Dakota Ridge coach Jake Southern, who is in his second year at the helm of the Eagles’ field hockey program. “We are improving every day. We improve today, even if the scoreboard didn’t show it. We are taking steps.”
Dakota Ridge (2-2) had a winning record for the first time in the program’s history coming into Monday’s game. The Eagles have wins over Smoky Hill and No. 10 Liberty on the season.
“We have good seniors who have be apart of this program and they believe we can win,” Southern said. “They know we can win now and that changes the program.”