When the final whistle blew on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 22, there was a new and welcome sensation among the members of the Moffat County girls soccer program.

Victory.

MCHS girls took their first win since 2019 with a dominant 4-0 game against Colorado Rocky Mountain School of Carbondale.

The W was also their first home win and first shutout since 2018, all of which happened for the Bulldogs when current head coach Trinitie Beckner was still a player.

Beckner said she’s been telling athletes all season that they were able to break their losing streak — provided they get in the right headspace.

“The physical is there, it was just the mental we needed, and today we found it,” Beckner said. “They’re all capable of winning, there’s just a fear of failure. They’ve experienced so much of that, it can be hard to encourage them and build that up. They held each other accountable and kept each other confident, and that’s what it looks like when it clicks.”

The MoCo offense got rolling immediately against CRMS, with the Dogs taking over Oyster territory with no hesitation.

Early shots on goal weren’t quite hitting net, but with 17 minutes off the clock, senior Gracie Cox got shoved to the ground warranting a penalty kick.

The CRMS goalie deflected the one-on-one shot but wasn’t quick enough to dive on the loose ball as Cox charged forward to score on the rebound.

“I think that really brought up the energy and got us going after that,” Cox said. “Getting pushed didn’t feel great but the rest of that did.”

The first goal of the season for the Dogs only made the team hungrier for more, and within a few moments, Cox set up teammate Vanessa Rodriguez Valencia for another score.

Rodriguez Valencia put the ball in the box a second time 70 seconds before halftime, lofting it over the Oyster keeper’s head, to make it 3-0 as the team headed to the sidelines with pure giddiness.

After the break, senior Alyssa LeWarne subbed in at keeper to replace starting Bulldog goalie Vanessa Herrera, who had to attend an FFA meeting.

“I was pretty worried — since we were winning, I didn’t want to mess it up,” LeWarne said. “It’s fun to see the game from a different way, but it’s a lot of pressure.”

Apart from a CRMS shot that caught the crossbar and nearly rolled over the line, LeWarne did just fine as the rest of the squad kept the mojo going their way.

Senior Ariana Buchanan earned the final Bulldog goal of the day with a shot that bounced off one of her opponents into the goal.

CRMS was one of Moffat County’s first games this season — won 4-0 by the Oysters — though Buchanan had still been in basketball mode at that point.

“Feels really good — we communicated a lot, everyone did their best effort, and that really showed,” she said. “I’m proud of everyone for this.”

The win was meaningful to everyone wearing blue and white that day, though the upperclassmen who have fought their way through some rough seasons were especially thrilled.

“It feels like a lot of hard work finally paid off,” said LeWarne, a four-year player. “It’s a big reward for how much we’ve put into it because a lot of girls have joined soccer but not finished it.”

While the team has seen its share of mercy rule defeats this spring, Beckner said she never had a doubt that a victory was around the corner, with Cox’s PK giving the rest of the group the confidence they needed.

MCHS girls soccer will host its final game and Senior Night at 4 p.m. Thursday against Grand Valley.