AURORA | A costly two-minute span early in the second half turned out to be the difference Tuesday night in a Class 5A first round playoff loss for the Regis Jesuit girls soccer team.
The 16th-seeded Raiders got the lead on a goal by senior Brooke Metcalfe midway through the opening half against 17th-seeded Fairview at soaked Lou Kellogg Stadium, but watched the Knights score twice in short succession in the second half and hold on for a 2-1 win.
In the first season under Rick Wolf as head coach, Regis Jesuit finished with a 7-5-4 record. The Raiders returned to the postseason after they won just two games and missed out last season — which snapped a streak of 10 straight appearances — but remain in search of their first playoff victory since a first round win over Fort Collins in 2022.
Meanwhile, Fairview moves into Friday’s second round, where it will visit top-seeded Mountain Vista, which topped No. 32 Poudre 2-0 in the opening round.
Regis Jesuit last faced Fairview in the postseason back in 2010 and got off to a good start in the rematch when Metcalfe — a Gonzaga signee and the team’s leading scorer — flicked a shot from about 15 yards out that caught Knights keeper Adeline Costello backpedaling and glanced off her hand into the top corner of the net.
Metcalfe’s eighth goal of the season held up for the next 20 minutes until halftime and almost 10 minutes into the second half before Fairview got the equalizer in the 49th minute.
A deflection sent a loose ball out to junior Zephy Dake, who had plenty of space and drilled a low shot that beat Regis Jesuit senior keeper Jane Rumpf to the far corner of the goal.
The Knights parlayed a set piece into what turned out to be the game-winning goal just two minutes later when senior Lucy Ochs settled a corner kick service in the center of the goal box and senior Pailynn Pine directed it through traffic into the net.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
(17) FAIRVIEW 2, (16) REGIS JESUIT 1
Score by halves:
Fairview 0 2 — 2
Regis Jesuit 1 0 — 1
SCORING
First half
Regis Jesuit — Brooke Metcalfe, 21st minute
Second half
Regis Jesuit — Zephy Dake, 49th minute
Regis Jesuit — Pailynn Pine (Lucy Ochs), 51st minute
