Williams’ big evening leads Mead past Niwot
Mavericks senior notched two goals, two assists
MEAD >> Averi Williams was at the heart of everything good happening for Mead girls soccer Wednesday evening.
The fourth-year varsity player finished with two goals, two assists, and most importantly a 5-1 home win over Niwot.
“She’s just so electric on the field,” Mead head coach Shane
Adler said of Williams. “She found a way to dominate the middle of the field and it was impressive tonight. She does great working with her teammates, she’s a great leader and her teammates trust her.”
One year after reaching the Class 4A state semifinals, the now 2-0 Mavericks are playing with plenty of confidence early this season. Williams believes that with the proper steps, Mead has enough talent to make another deep playoff run.
“It really makes me excited for the rest of the season because it shows how far we can go as a team,” Williams said. “We’re seeing how the team’s meshing, and how we can all work together to get a score like this.”
Meanwhile, Niwot dropped to 2-1-1 following its first nonleague loss of the spring.
Disaster struck early for Niwot when, on a Mead corner kick, Williams’ slicing ball bounced off Margaux Boyer’s chest and into the Cougars’ net, resulting in a rare own goal at the 35:23 mark.
Up 1-0, the senior Williams scored Mead’s first conventional goal about five minutes later to give the Mavericks a commanding two-score lead less than 10 minutes into the game. Senior Hailey Grillas produced Mead’s third goal at the 16:25 mark before Williams scored another with about 4 minutes
remaining in the first half.
“I feel so confident knowing that we have so many players on our team that can put the ball in the back of the net,” Williams said. “We’re not strong on just one part of the field, we’re strong everywhere.”
Niwot sophomore goalkeeper Mariah Fletemeyer was once again active in the second half but allowed only one shot to enter the net. With an assist by Williams, junior Katy Adler, last season’s Longmont Times-call player of the year, scored Mead’s fifth goal halfway through the second period.
The Cougars’ lone score came courtesy of Tracy Yu, a senior who was in Fort Morgan only 24 hours prior with the Niwot girls tennis team. After winning her No. 2 singles match on Tuesday, Yu scored her first high school goal in two years on Wednesday.
“All I was thinking was get to the net and find the follow-through,” Yu said regarding her first-half goal. “I knew that Rylie (Fletemeyer) was trying to take the shot, but then the ball hit my feet.”
Moving forward, Yu hopes Niwot will enter its Friday afternoon tilt at Silver Creek with a renewed mindset.
“(We need to be) more focused on playing our game and not thinking of, ‘what if they score?” Yu said.
The Mavericks are set to host Steamboat Springs on Saturday.