By Mike Sackley

Notre Dame Prep girls soccer has been a powerhouse in recent years. Boulder Creek, on the other hand, is just starting to taste success this season. Both teams have asserted themselves as two of the top squads in the state.

And Tuesday night at Boulder Creek High School, the Boulder Creek Jaguars showed they are a team to be reckoned with come the state tournament, coming up with a 3-1 win over the Saints in overtime.

Emily Paxton was the hero for Boulder Creek (12-3), netting all three Jaguars goals, including the tiebreaker, eight minutes into the 1^st overtime period. 

Jaguars head coach Lacey Chavez said a win for her team over Notre Dame is "unheard of for this school."

"It is a real boost for the program," Chavez said. "They knew that this was going to be a tough one for them and if they could do this, they had a great chance at state."

The Notre Dame Saints (13-3) got the first goal, coming early in the game’s fifth minute. Off a corner kick, the Saints Lucy O’Leary got a piece of the ball as it went off a Boulder Creek defender and into the net.

But the Saints would not get a whole lot of opportunites until the end of the half. Boulder Creek controlled the pace most of the 1^st half and had some near misses on Saints goaltender Marette Penington.

In the 2^nd half, the Jaguars finally struck, as leading goal scorer Paxton got Boulder Creek on the board with a line drive past Penington.

Boulder Creek kept its momentum up throughout the second half, fueled by an unusually boisterous crowd. The Jaguars boys soccer team was in attendance and making quite a bit of noise in support of the girls team. That offensive momentum carried the Jaguars to the tiebreaking goal in overtime. Paxton, who notched her third hat trick of the season, added her third and final goal in the final minute of the second overtime period.

The Saints, ranked 2^nd in the state, have gone through this season without their head coach. Scot Bemis is battling stage 4 lung cancer. Interim head coach Gary Gregory, who has coached with Bemis for five years, said it has been tough taking on the coaching duties by himself, but added the girls have been resilient.

“There hasn’t been much difference from a coaching standpoint," Gregory said. "Outside of [Bemis not being around], we’re having a great time. The girls communicate with Coach Bemis on our Team Bemis website, so they get their word to him that way.”

Bemis also coaches the Notre Dame football team, which he left to Gregory midway through last season.

Cadi Naquin has led the way for Notre Dame with 16 goals on the season. The senior will play soccer at Columbia next year. The Saints have continued to play well with a mix of senior leadership and youth.

Boulder Creek, ranked seventh in the state, seems to finally have the pieces in place to make a run into the playoffs. Coach Lacy Chavez says the talent is finally there this season.

“We’ve got lots of talent and we have a talented freshman lineup [this season],” said Chavez.

Chavez also praised the offense, which dominated much of the game Tuesday night against Notre Dame. Paxton, the senior leader of the offense with 24 goals, will play her college soccer at the University of Colorado-Boulder next season. Paxton played on the club team the past two seasons before returning to the varsity squad this year.