The number of goals Jordan Nytes ceded during the recently completed 2022 girls soccer season could be counted on just one hand.
Just five shots managed to get past the star goalkeeper in 1,400 minutes in the net in her senior season at Grandview High School, which was a big reason why the Wolves won the program’s sixth all-time state championship.
Nytes was named Gatorade’s Colorado Player of the Year Thursday, just the second time a player from an Aurora area school had won that award in girls soccer since Gatorade began to recognize the best players in each state back in 1985-86. Another former Grandview standout, Beth West, was the other local winner back in 2008.
The announcement gave Grandview programs a sweep of the state’s top awards from Gatorade, as Ben Beckman received the nod for the boys season. Both teams — coached by Wood, who took over the girls program from his wife, Tari, who retired just before the end of the 2021 season — won the 5A state championship.
“Jordan is an exceptional goalkeeper. Her skills and work ethic made her the final barrier in our defense,” Grandview head coach Brian Wood. “She made saves that most goalkeepers would not be able to make.”
Nytes is an Oklahoma State signee who has been one of the state’s stingiest keepers over the past two seasons, while she has played behind an elite backline as well. In her senior season, Nytes yielded no more than one goal in a game and three of those came in the postseason against elite competition. Legacy, the state’s top-scoring team, managed only a goal via penalty kick against Nytes in the 5A quarterfinals.
The signature game for Nytes came in the semifinals at the University of Denver, when she shut out top-seeded Valor Christian for the full 80 minutes of regulation, a full overtime period and then part of another until junior Naomi Clark scored the game-winner.
Nytes is the 35th different player from an Aurora area program all-time to win at least one Gatorade Colorado Player of the Year award (full list, here). She is the third local winner for the spring season thus far, following Beckman and Regis Jesuit’s Dallas Macias (baseball). Nytes is also the third Grandview winner so far in the 2021-22 athletic year as Lauren Betts also earned the honor for the girls basketball season in the winter.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
Way to go Jordan!