HIGHLANDS RANCH | For only the second time in the past decade, the Grandview girls soccer team won’t be playing in the second round or later in the Class 5A state playoffs.
The Wolves — with six state championships to their credit since 2008 — lost in the first round of the 2023 postseason and that’s the same round that stopped them this season as they dropped a 2-0 contest against Rock Canyon Tuesday evening at Halftime Help Stadium.
In the final game for longtime coach Brian Wood, 26th-seeded Grandview couldn’t convert on some prime chances that it needed to knock off the seventh-seeded Jaguars, who got goals in each half to advance to Friday’s second round. Rock Canyon (12-2-2) will play host to No. 10 Broomfield (10-4-2), a 2-1 winner over No. 23 ThunderRidge.
Rock Canyon broke the scoreless tie in the 26th minute when a penalty kick was awarded when a player was fouled inside the top of the goal box. Wolves senior keeper Ivy Daniel read the direction of senior Macayla Hansen’s shot, but it had too much pace and would up in the back of the net.
Both teams had some close calls after that, as Grandview sophomore Allie Smith pushed a free kick chance just over the crossbar late in the opening half. The Wolves also had a 2-on-1 chance with 15 minutes left where sophomore Paige Jasinowski found senior Taryn Hash, whose shot was saved. Two minutes later, another shot glanced off the crossbar.
The Jaguars themselves hit a post going for a second score, which finally came just inside the final two minutes when senior Mya Mills crossed a ball that was headed in by senior Paisley Barela.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(7) ROCK CANYON 2, (26) GRANDVIEW 0
Score by halves:
Grandview 0 0 — 0
Rock Canyon 1 1 — 2
SCORING
First half
Rock Canyon — Macayla Hansen (penalty kick), 26th minute
Second half
Rock Canyon — Paisley Barela (Mya Mills), 78th minute