Lakewood graduate looks forward to summer soccer play

Danica Evans of the Colorado Rush won the 2014 Golden Boot as the W-League’s leading scorer.

Evans, the 20-year-old Lakewood High School graduate, was third in points for 2015 after collecting a goal in a 2-1 Rush win over the Colorado Storm in a July 1 W-League match at All-City Field in Denver.

“She’s a talented player and a unique player in her style,” said Rush coach Erik Bushey. “She has a wonderful knack for scoring goals and is very crafty, very unique and very dangerous.”

The W-League is an 18-team developmental women’s league open to elite juniors, college players and graduated collegians. It is an open league, giving players the ability to maintain their college eligibility. The semi-pro league has three regional conferences.

The Colorado Rush is a Littleton/Lakewood-based team that trains at the Rooney Road Sports Complex in Golden and plays its home games in Arvada.

Evans, who played two seasons for the University of Portland but has transferred as a junior to the University of Colorado, is one of the top players in the W-League.

She has 20 points (eight goals and four assists). She trails scoring leader Tara Andrews, an Australian who plays for the Colorado Pride, who has 11 goals and 24 points.

“Oh my gosh, it is so much fun playing this summer,” said Evans, who admitted it takes an adjustment to learn the skills of athletes who are not used to competing with each other. “It’s difficult, but once you get to know each other after the first trip, we really started to work together and found each other’s strengths and capitalized on those strengths. We’re working towards the goal at the end.

“I look forward to playing every summer. I’ve played for Rush since I was 12 and Erik has been my coach for a while. Our whole purpose is to learn and develop. As long as we’re winning, I feel like we are developing. Hopefully, I can win the Golden Boot again.”

The Rush goal for the year is gaining one of the two Western Division playoff spots.

Seattle (7-0-1) and the Rush (7-1-1) were tied for first with 22 points, but the Sounders had played one less game. The Colorado Pride (7-2-0) was third with 21 points.

The contenders faced each other in the regular season’s stretch run.

Seattle played the Colorado Pride July 3 at San Creek Stadium, faced the Storm July 5 at Sports Authority Stadium and met the Rush July 7 at North Area Athletic Complex. The Sounders end the regular season at home July 11 against Arizona.

After the rematch against Sounders on July 7, which followed a 2-2 tie in Seattle on June 28, the Rush plays Santa Clarita July 9 at NAAC and ends the regular campaign in Colorado Springs July 12 against the Pride at Washburn Field.

“It’s a short season so every win is a very important win,” Bushey pointed out after the narrow win over the Storm.

The Rush won two previous games this season against the Parker-based Storm by a combined score of 12-0. However, the Rush needed a goal by Kelly Fitzgerald in the 76th minute to escape with a win.

“One of the challenges of the league is pulling a lot of players coming from different directions together,” said Bushey. “When you bring talent together and talent begins to work, good things happen.

“The game against the Storm wasn’t our best, but coach (Mike) Haas had his team ready and it was a tough game. We’ve played some good soccer in this short season.”

Evans took a pass from Fitzgerald and broke free for a goal in the first five minutes of the match to push the Rush ahead 1-0.

However, the Storm finally tallied its first goal in three games against the Rush when MacKenzie Jaroch tied the game with a goal in the 42nd minute. Madeline Hanssler was credited with an assist on the play.

With the Rush controlling the play most of the second half, Claire Wagner lifted an accurate pass from near the corner. Fitzgerald headed the ball past Storm goalie Katie Ruff for the winning score.

“We get better in different areas each game,” said Haas. “This was the best overall effort as far as team defending and organization. It was good to see.”

The loss left the Storm with a 1-9-0 record.

Golden Transcript – Latest Stories