Conor Beach knew his developing squad’s season was already, record-wise, a wash long before Grand Junction Central girls soccer arrived Saturday morning in distant Bayfield.
Though BHS counterpart Josh Kitchen has had the ingredients to perhaps whip up something to savor, inexperience and injury in 2026 have prevented he and his staff from blending them to perfection.
But somehow, someway it all came together inside Wolverine Country Stadium. For both sides in a 4-4 tie.
Senior Avery Shipman put the hosting Wolverines up 1-0 barely two minutes in by converting a penalty kick, but neither they nor the Warriors managed anything more, despite several quality tries, before halftime.
Shipman herself clanged a 19th-minute attempt off CHS goalie Natalie Espinoza’s near post, and Espinoza then stopped BHS junior Jacqueline Boyce’s 24th-minute PK after a Central player was yellow-carded for dangerous play while preventing Shipman, played into striking range by Boyce, from taking a breakaway shot.
Central senior Teresita Fuentes then threatened to tie the match in the 26th but put her own breakaway chance just wide of Wolverine senior keeper Lily Muir and into the side netting, and sophomore Kenzie Decker launched a 24-yard free kick just high and out of play in the 35th as neither crew made another breakthrough.
“Both teams played really hard—I thought we were fairly evenly-matched,” Kitchen said. “I was proud of how we kept our shape pretty well; we did a lot of things we’ve been practicing. Certainly there were some (aspects) we’d like to have back, but overall I felt we played an okay game.”
Minus ten players, including six seniors, from his roster, Beach and his aides looked to underclassmen for a post-intermission spark, and freshman Emma Ballagh evened the match with a 43rd-minute penalty kick. Bayfield freshman Lucy Hubbert was then shown a yellow in the 50th but Decker again shot high over Muir, making her return to action after completing post-concussion protocol and missing a couple matches.
Shipman, meanwhile, regained Bayfield (2-9-1 overall, 0-4-0 3A Intermountain) the upper hand in the 52nd, but Decker finally zipped a rocket past Muir in the 54th and re-tied the score at 2-all. Playing one of her finest all-around matches this spring, Shipman completed her hat trick in the 61st minute, putting the Wolverines up 3-2, but things were only heating up.
“Obviously she used her speed, and I thought she did a really good job of keeping control as she closed those distances and putting (shots) in the corners,” Kitchen said. “I was really proud of some balls the girls fed her out of the midfield—we had a really nice one from Jackie, and a couple others—that really set her up for success. I thought she had an awesome game.”
Running onto senior Leilah Perez’s perfectly-placed pass, sent ahead from well behind the midfield line, Boyce beat a diving Espinoza in the 64th to net BHS’ fourth goal and put the Wolverines in a most advantageous position. But 4A Central (0-11-1, 0-8-0 4A/5A Southwestern) had come too far to leave empty-handed and battled back to 4-3 via Ballagh’s 68th-minute PK, resulting from a foul—and yellow card, shown to junior defender Kambria Bailey—inside BHS’ 18-yard box.
Saving her best for last, Ballagh focused on Muir’s back post in the 71st and crossed a long ball in to a composed and waiting Fuentes, whose reception and finish were flawless and ultimately deadlocked the match once and for all.
“That was fantastic,” beamed Beach. “Tere took her time and made sure her first touch set her up for success. But all credit to our young team; we had, what, a freshman and a sophomore score three goals and a senior the other? Very, very impressed with how we came back three separate times from—at least—one goal down to tie.”
Looking ahead, Bayfield will host 2A Telluride at 4 p.m. Friday, then welcome IMLers Alamosa the next morning.
Results from BHS’ trip Tuesday to league rival Pagosa Springs (5-6, 1-4 IML) were unavailable at press time.
“All three, we felt if we’d have played them just a little better it could have been slightly different outcomes,” said Kitchen, alluding to the Wolverines’ earlier losses in ’26 to their upcoming opponents. “We have a lot of respect for them, but I do think we can close the gap if we play the type of soccer we want to play.”