Happy birthday to me

Cheyenne Mountain's Kelley Lawson had a birthday on Wednesday. The party? The 4A state soccer quarterfinals at Cheyenne Mountain.

The gift? She scored all four goals in a 4-3 overtime win over Greeley Central to send her team to the semifinals. The Indians will play Broomfield at 7 p.m. Saturday at Broomfield.

"I just shot it for my life," Lawson said.

Early in overtime, Lawson found herself alone with one defender and the goalkeeper to beat.

"I didn't even know what I was doing," Lawson said. "It just went right by her."

Cheyenne Mountain (14-2-2) surrendered a 2-1 lead midway through the second half when Greeley Central (10-7-1) scored two goals within 21 seconds.

The Indians tied the game with 3:01 remaining as Cheyenne Mountain's Kaitlin Tomeo launched a free kick toward Greeley Central's goal.

Karly Findorff jumped for the ball and three defenders followed her, leaving Lawson behind them all alone. The ball deflected off Findorff's head, and Lawson headed in the tying goal.

"Karly did such a good job to take them out," Lawson said.

The win marked Cheyenne Mountain's first come-from-behind victory this season.

Cheyenne Mountain has nine shutouts in its past 11 games and has outscored its opponents 53-4. The Indians have given up only 10 goals this season.

"I knew it would be really close and tight," Indians' coach Nikki Athey said. "I didn't think they (Greeley Central) would get as many goals as they did."

"We went down (gave up) two goals really quick," Findorff said. "We knew we had to come back and we got the job done."

Greeley Central struck first with a goal by Brittani Knott 11 minutes into the first half. Cheyenne Mountain responded as Lawson scored her first two goals off assists from Findorff.

"We weren't going to let them beat us on our home field," Findorff said.

In the second, Cheyenne Mountain played conservatively until Greeley Central surged ahead 3-2.

"I think we just lost our focus," Lawson said. "Everyone just stepped it up and had the attitude that we were not going to lose."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0250 or sports@gazette.com

Copyright 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.