GREENWOOD VILLAGE | A little complacency aside, Grandview kept on rolling through the Class 5A girls state soccer playoffs Wednesday night at Stutler Bowl.
The second-seeded Wolves got goals from seniors Lauren Holleran and Kendra Gipson and junior Caylin Lyubenko and made it stand up for a 3-1 5A quarterfinal victory over seventh-seeded Chatfield, which got back into the game a bit when Grandview let up.
Senior Shalom Prince added an assist for the defending state champion Wolves (15-2-1), who advanced to a semifinal matchup against No. 14 Ralston Valley Saturday at EchoPark Stadium, a game still awaiting an official start time. The Mustangs blanked No. 11 Columbine 1-0 in another quarterfinal.
Grandview — which won its eighth consecutive 5A playoff game — scored all three of its goals as the result of set pieces, starting with Holleran’s free kick in the 14th minute.
Holleran took the free kick from 20 yards and skipped it off the turf and right inside the goal post past diving Chargers keeper Abby Wilkinson. It was the first goal surrendered by Chatfield in the postseason after it shut out No. 26 Denver East and No. 10 Fossil Ridge in the first two rounds.
The Wolves weren’t done, however, as Prince got her head on a corner kick serve from senior Kacy Johnston and thought she had a goal, but her shot was blocked and landed at the feet of Gipson, who drilled it into the corner of the net to double the lead in the 22nd minute.
Six minutes after that, Holleran blasted a free kick from midfield and hit Prince, who settled it and slipped a pass to a Lyubenko, who finished on the run.
The extra goals came in handy as Chatfield came out of halftime with some extra fire and the Wolves were back on their heels. Hannah Peterson got the Chargers on the scoreboard in the 51st minute when she cleaned up a loose ball in front of the Grandview goal.
Chatfield pressured for much of the last 20 minutes, but senior goalkeeper Madison Livingston and the Wolves’ defense would not be scored upon again.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or [email protected] Twitter: @aurorasport. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(2) GRANDVIEW 3, (7) CHATFIELD 1
Score by halves:
Chatfield 0 1 — 1
Grandview 3 0 — 3
SCORING
First half
Grandview — Lauren Holleran, 14th minute
Grandview — Kendra Gipson, 22nd minute
Grandview — Caylin Lyubenko (Shalom Prince), 28th minute
Second half
Chatfield — Hannah Peterson, 51st minute
