Meet Colorado girls soccer’s newest No. 1.

On Tuesday night at Christian Recht Field, Boulder proved it’s much more than just a promising start to the spring season as the CHSAA Class 5A No. 3 Panthers dethroned the consensus No. 1 team in the state, Castle View, 2-1. The top spot should be theirs when all of the rankings are updated.

Mia DeJohn ended what had been a well-played scoreless bout in the 64th minute, scoring from inside the box, before freshman Kiri Fogarty-Sears then doubled the lead in the 69th.

The Sabercats rallied, closing within one — on a goal from Adyson Kissinger — but the Panthers, and especially goalie Maisie Creamer, her teammates said, held on to seal the program’s biggest regular-season win in recent memory.

“It was absolutely brutal,” senior captain and defender Sylvie Rowe said of Castle View’s furious comeback bid.

“It was a battle of grit,” she added, “and we came out on top.” It’s a sentiment which remains at the core of the program’s best start in several seasons.

The Panthers (6-0-2), who haven’t won a playoff game in seven years, have been one of the best stories throughout the first month of the spring season. But perhaps it’s been their past two games that they’ve shown to be much more.

On Thursday, in what were blizzard conditions, coach Carlos Real said, the Panthers rallied in the second half to tie No. 2 Ralston Valley. “Resilience”, “grit” — the words commonly leaned on by the program were present then, and again Tuesday.

DeJohn’s opening goal against MaxPreps’ 33rd-ranked team in the nation came just minutes after Boulder had one disallowed. It led to another, by Fogarty-Sears, who scored her team-best fifth goal of the season on a perfect cross from Zoe Silver.

Castle View (6-1-1) never folded. Boulder was first to credit the Sabercats on that.

The away team got one back in the 72nd and continued to press deep into the box up until the game’s waning moments. Creamer and a bend-don’t-break backline kept it there, though, as players on the bench and fans from the stands spilled onto the field to celebrate following the final horn.

“We’ve had a promising start, but this game was by far one of our hardest tests,” said DeJohn, who also celebrated her commitment to San Diego State University at the school’s Signing Day ceremony on Wednesday. “I would really love to meet them again in the playoffs. I’d love to see that battle again. They’re an incredible team.”

Boulder’s unprecedented success over the first month of the spring hasn’t been lost on its community, either. Hardy Kalisher, the school’s decorated boys soccer coach, said he’s just one of many around town who is following along.

“Proud of the program, proud of the girls and proud of what the coach has put together,” said Kalisher, who was on the sideline Tuesday. The two-time state champion boys coach gave Real his first coaching job on Boulder’s club scene two decades ago and is now witnessing his friend’s biggest success at the school. “I was out and about in town and someone came up to me and said, ‘I hear the girls of Boulder High are really doing well this year.’ Just to hear the chatter around town about the enthusiasm in the women’s program, that makes me proud because I’m a Boulder fan.”

Kalisher noted it took him seven years until Boulder won its first state title under him in 2012. Interestingly enough, Real is in his seventh full season (not including the pandemic) in charge of the girls program.

“They unlocked the next level and it showed today,” Real said of his team. “The result is great, but even if we had tied, what I’d take away from this is we are winners because we are moving up.”

Despite the win, the Panthers are clear about this: they won’t let their April ranking cloud the bigger picture.

They’re aware that being atop any of the state’s rankings may be short-lived in the regular season. That’s because after a tough test against powerhouse Broomfield on Thursday, they’ll begin play in the Rocky Mountain League where talent and regard — and strength of opponent in a rankings sense — aren’t likely what they were in the vaunted, and now former, Front Range League.

But that’s for another time.

On Tuesday, Boulder savored the moment.

“I think it’s pretty beautiful seeing all these different ages come together, and everyone coming from different clubs coming together and playing beautiful soccer,” sophomore Tula Gonzalez said.

“Everyone is just collectively doing an amazing job.”