The Poudre School District Stars shone brightly on the big stage, as the district team outlasted the Windsor Wizards with an 18-17 overtime victory at Canvas Stadium. 

This already heated crosstown rivalry had the stakes raised, with the two teams playing at CSU’s Canvas Stadium, which seats 41,000 people. 

“It’s just a cool experience,” said senior Grant Grieves. “Once in a lifetime chance, it’s awesome to be here.”

The Stars showed their excitement early, jumping out to an early 6-2 lead halfway through the first. The team’s offense was on fire early, averaging a goal a minute in their red-hot start. 

However, Windsor bounced back, controlling the pace during the rest of the first half. The Wizards created a 10-9 lead for themselves right before halftime, including a four-goal run to end the half.

But the Stars fought back with a four-goal run of their own to start the second half. The majority of the offense came from the Chastain twins, Luke and Paden. The two combined for three of the four goals during the third quarter and combined for a total of six goals for the game. 

The Wizards refused to go away, with another three goals to tie things up at 17. After a competitive fourth quarter, the two teams remained tied at 17.

This led to a sudden-death overtime, where the first goal would win it all. Windsor won the initial faceoff, PSD came up with a massive stop to keep their hopes alive. 

“It was all communication and making sure our communication was top tier,” Grieves said. “We just have to make selfless plays.”

After collecting the ball one the offensive end, all eyes swiveled to sophomore Colton Pawlak. 

Pawlak was dominant all game, with seven goals to keep the Stars engaged, including three in the fourth quarter. The sophomore standout found some space and buried a shot to win the game with his eight of the game. 

But speaking after the game, Pawlak gave all the credit to his teammates.

“I mean it’s not just me out here, it’s everybody else.” Pawlak said. “When you have the support they give me, it means a lot.”

PSD now improves to 6-2, along with a three game winning streak. While they are 1-0 in conference play, six of their final seven games are against league opponents. With these difficult opponents down the stretch, the team knows they will have to keep improving with each game.

“I think this will have a big impact moving forward,” Pawlak said. “We just have to keep rolling.”

The team will be back home at Timnath Stadium this Wednesday, April 17 against Lakewood at 7 p.m.