AURORA | The Smoky Hill field hockey team put the disappointment of a first round playoff loss behind it and started a hopeful journey in the consolation bracket.
The eighth-seeded Buffaloes dropped a 1-0 contest to No. 9 St, Mary’s Academy to begin the postseason, which dropped them into a consolation bracket that made its debut in the sport this season.
Smoky Hill ended up there along with No. 16 Grandview — which lost to No. 1 Colorado Academy in the first round — to set up a local consolation quarterfinal Nov. 1. Senior Elyse Bailey scored three goals in the first half to get the Buffaloes started on a 7-0 win.
“We were very disappointed Monday (after the first round loss), because they worked very hard and this is the best season Smoky Hill’s had in a long time, so it’s been good progress,” coach Lisa Griffiths said. “They were disappointed, but now that we’ve moved into this round, they’re excited to finish off the season in a good way.”
Freshman Carmella Trujillo added two goals, while senior Henley Whitehead and junior Emerson Connell also had goals for coach Lisa Griffiths’ (10-6-1) Smoky Hill team, which has a consolation semifinal matchup at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 5 at All-City Stadium against No. 12 Cheyenne Mountain.
The victory was the first in the postseason for the Smoky Hill program since 2010 when it defeated Denver East in the first round of an eight-team tournament and lost to Kent Denver in the semifinals.
“I think we took a lot out of the loss in the first round and it’s nice to know that wasn’t the last game,” Bailey said. “None of us wanted to play in the consolation round and we wanted to keep going, but once we got over that initial frustration and sadness, we realized the job’s not over. We’re going to put everything we have into it.”
Coach Alex Smith’s Grandview team finished the season 0-17, but got the experience of two postseason games in the sport’s new format.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
