AURORA | The Grandview girls soccer team has to won back-to-back Class 5A state championships in the past, but the possibility of a repeat ended Tuesday night with a loss to Chatfield on penalty kicks.
In its 5A first round matchup that stretched deep into the night at Legacy Stadium, the 15th-seeded Wolves fell down by two goals, then took a lead and saw it get away and eventually got outscored 4-1 on penalty kicks in a 3-3 loss to the 19th-seeded Chargers.
Freshman Lexi Yi and junior Madalyn Hopkins scored first-half goals and sophomore Isabelle Rogers gave coach Brian Wood’s Grandview team a brief lead in the second half, but the Wolves couldn’t come with another goal to finish the season 9-6.
A win for Grandview would have moved them into a second round matchup with No. 2 Broomfield, which would have been a rematch of last season’s 5A state title game which the Wolves won for its sixth all-time championship.
Things looked a bit grim for Grandview in the first half when the Chargers scored two goals in a span of less than two minutes on set pieces as sophomore defender Kyra Kuennen blasted a free kick over a wall and just over the outstretched hands of Wolves’ freshman keeper Jaslin Roybal and junior Jayden Heil curled a corner kick into the top of the goal.
But the Wolves had a two-goal burst of their own coming when sophomore Gaby Hansen slotted a pass behind the Chatfield defense that Yi headed just ahead of charging Chargers junior goalie Alyssa Green in the 19th minute. Less than two minutes later, Yi got in again and crossed it to Hopkins for a finish to tie the game.
Rogers scored on a long blast with just 56 seconds gone off the clock in the second half for Grandview’s third straight goal, but it was a short-lived lead when Chatfield junior Hannah Anderson drilled a shot into the top corner of the net to tie it again in the 48th minute.
The teams played the next 62 minute, 54 seconds, without another goal, which forced penalty kicks. Chatfield shooters converted all four of their opportunities, while Green made a diving save on one Grandview attempt and another sailed high.
The Wolves were largely a young team, but will head into next season minus three of its top goal scorers as Naomi Clark, Crystal Sesma and Isa Dillehay graduate.
Clark — the hero of Grandview’s postseason run last season, which included a hat trick in the championship game — tallied 18 goals and eight assists this season, while Sesma finished with six goals and three assists and Dillehay (who graduates with two state championships in basketball and one in soccer) had five goals and five assists.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 Class 5A girls soccer state playoffs (1st round)
(19) CHATFIELD 3, (15) GRANDVIEW 3 (Chatfield wins on PKs)
Score by halves:
Chatfield 2 1 0 0 (4) — 3
Grandview 2 1 0 0 (1) — 3
Chatfield goals: Hannah Anderson, Jayden Heil, Kyra Kuennen. Grandview goals: Madalyn Hopkins, Isabelle Rogers, Lexi Yi. Chatfield assist: Ava Erickson. Grandview assists: Gaby Hansen, Yi. Chatfield saves: Alyssa Green (8 shots on goal-5 saves)