BOULDER | Brian Wood wishes he’d seen the version of his Grandview boys soccer team that took the field in Wednesday night’s Class 5A first round state playoff game all season.
If so, the Wolves wouldn’t have been the 24th seed out of 32 postseason teams and faced such a difficult path. But Wood — who is coaching his last season — saw the best from his team in its visit to ninth-seeded Fairview.
Junior Alex Kedzierski scored in the 102nd minute as Grandview prevailed 1-0 to become the lowest seeded team to advance to the second round. The senior-heavy Wolves (8-6-2) move into a Nov. 5 matchup against No. 8 Ralston Valley (10-3-3), which advanced via a 2-0 shutout of No. 25 Mountain Vista.
“We had lots of energy, which I hadn’t seen since we had played (rival) Cherokee Trail,” Wood said. “That’s been frustrating because we were thinking ‘why couldn’t we have been this team all year?’ …When you have underdog status, we have to go prove ourselves and I think it does give you an advantage sometimes. We used it.”
Kedzierski, who ranks second on the team to senior Andrew Harwell among Grandview’s offensive team leaders, had prime scoring chances early with shots that grazed a goal post and another that went off the crossbar.
But with both teams locked in a defensive battle, it took until the second extra period for the Wolves to break through. Kedzierski got just enough of a pass from senior Suvan Yerramilli to get it into the net and end the game.
Senior goalie Abder Valdelamar Jimenez closed out Fairview’s best offensive chance in regulation and made four saves in 102 minutes in the nets to earn the shutout.
Grandview joined No. 6 Regis Jesuit — a 5-0 winner over No. 27 Denver South — as Aurora area winners in the opening round of the 5A state playoffs. Fourteenth-seeded Vista PEAK Prep (to No. 19 Valor Christian) and No. 28 Aurora Central (to No. 5 Denver East) were eliminated.
Wood next turned his attention to Ralston Valley and believes the urgency of his group of 15 seniors — plus the remaining underdog mindset — give the Wolves the chance to pull off another upset and move into the Nov. 9 quarterfinals at Englewood High School.
“Ralston Valley is a strong team with a really dominant player, but at the same time, we have two players who play with him and know him well, so have some ideas about trying to shut him down,” Wood said, referring to Mustangs’ star Cooper Hineline, who has 20 goals.
“If the boys bring the energy and play together and work together like they did earlier in the year, we have a shot,” he added.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2024 CLASS 5A BOYS SOCCER STATE PLAYOFFS (1ST ROUND)
(24) GRANDVIEW 1, (9) FAIRVIEW 0 (2OT)
Score by halves:
Grandview 0 0 0 1 — 1
Fairview 0 0 0 0 — 0
SCORING
Second overtime
Grandview — Alex Kedzierski (Suvan Yerramilli), 102nd minute
