AURORA | With a seemingly endless pool of talent on her roster, Grandview girls soccer coach Tari Wood knows how to wear down opponents.
Wave after wave of Wolves come off the bench and continue to push the pace for the full 80 minutes each game, just as they did in Friday evening’s Class 5A girls state soccer second round playoff game against Doherty at Legacy Stadium.
The 17th-seeded Spartans stood strong in the first half, but eventually bowed to the pressure in the second half as so many other teams have done this season and Wood’s top-seeded Grandview team scored five goals to break open a close game and win 6-0.
The defending 5A state champions improved to 15-0-1 and moved into the 5A quarterfinals, where it will play host to eighth-seeded Monarch — a 2-0 winner over No. 9 Fairview — at 5:30 p.m. May 18 at Stutler Bowl. Grandview is the lone Aurora team remaining in the 5A playoffs, as Cherokee Trail fell to Mountain Vista and Arapahoe knocked out Regis Jesuit on other second round contests.
The Wolves advanced with their second six-goal effort in as many postseason contests, as junior Jessica Hixson scored two goals in less than five minutes in the second half and seniors Madalynn Germann and Mandi Duggan, junior Nicole Lyubenko and sophomore Allie Zerr tallied as well.
The Wolves managed just one goal in the first half against a Doherty team that came in vastly improved from when the teams met in the opening game of the regular season, an 8-1 Grandview victory.
The lone score of the opening half came on when Duggan found Germann for another big goal. The seniors connected on a big score late in the regular season for the winning goal in the Wolves’ 2-1 win over Cherokee Trail that decided the Centennial League championship.
Grandview revved up the offense in the first half and finally began to solve Doherty goalkeeper Riley Furbush, who didn’t play when the teams squared off the first time.
Duggan doubled the lead early in the second half and the Wolves put the game away with back-to-back goals on set pieces in less than five minutes.
Hixson scored two goals on headers off corner kick serves from opposite sides of the field — one by Lyubenko and one by sophomore Nat Beckman — to expand the lead to 4-0.
Zerr scored the third goal for a Grandview defender a few minutes later and Lyubenko scorched a shot along the ground that made it into the net for her team-leading 11th goal of the year with just over seven minutes left.
Sophomore keeper Reagan McCombs needed to make just three saves in the game.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
(1) GRANDVIEW 6, (17) DOHERTY 0
Score by halves:
Doherty 0 0 — 0
Grandview 1 5 — 6
SCORING
First half: Grandview — Madalynn Germann (Mandi Duggan)
Second half: Grandview — Duggan; Grandview – Jessica Hixson (Nicole Lyubenko); Grandview — Hixson (Nat Beckman); Grandview — Allie Zerr; Grandview — Lyubenko
Grandview saves: Reagan McCombs (3 shots on goal-3 saves)
