Girls soccer teams across Colorado prep for fight to finish

Looking at the Class 4A state girls soccer tournament bracket for the first time, Wheat Ridge coach Dan Watkins may have done a double-take.

On the one hand, the Farmers earned the No. 2 overall seed – Wheat Ridge's highest seeding since being No. 1 back in 2009 when the team won it all. But for the Farmers, who landed in Quadrant 4, the road back to glory runs an all-too familiar course.

The top four seeds in the quadrant all hail from the Jeffco League. That means should Wheat Ridge (12-1-2) defeat Canon City, a potential second-round matchup with No. 15 Standley Lake (Westminster) could be followed by a quarterfinal showdown against either No. 7 Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) or 10th-seeded Evergreen.

Watkins joked that the quadrant is simply a Jeffco League replay.

"I really like the coaches I coached against – I just don't want to see them again this soon," he said with a laugh. "But it's a tough road. Evergreen is fantastic, Standley Lake played us to overtime, and Valor is loaded.
"It's not ideal, but you play the next game in front of you. You're in the tournament, so you're going to play good teams."

Lewis-Palmer (Monument), the 4A state runner-up in 2015, earned the top overall seed going into Wednesday's first round. Three of the top six seeds are from the Pikes Peak League (Lewis-Palmer, No. 5 Air Academy (US Air Force Academy), No. 6 Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs)); another Colorado Springs-area team, fourth-seeded The Classical Academy (Colorado Springs), played each of those teams in the first three games of the season.

Wheat Ridge reached the 4A title game from 2009-11, playing Valor Christian for the title each time. Since then, though, the closest the Farmers have come to returning was a quarterfinal appearance in 2013.

Led by a balanced offense, Wheat Ridge is hoping to change that. Seniors Frankee Broer and Susan Whitney finished the regular season with 35 points (12 goals, 11 assists) and 34 (13 and eight), respectively. Sophomore Macie Browne also had 34 points (12 goals, 10 assists).

The team also made its run with freshman Logan Duford anchoring the defense in the net.

"We had an offseason injury that could have potentially – not derail us, but make things a little more challenging," Watkins said. "Our group really rallied together and played with a ton of heart and a ton of energy. I think the strength of the group is how they play together and for each other."

As for thinking of the past and those two state titles, Watkins said it can be a good thing.

"You can't help but compare back to those teams that were able to make a run," he said. "It's an exciting time. As a coach, it's nice to have something to compare to and reflect onto as a past experience.

"It's a little bit of connecting the current group to the past group and trying to get them to buy in to what the future could hold."

Here is a look at all four classifications headed into the postseason:

Class 5A
Defending champion: Grandview (Aurora)
Top seeds: 1. Grandview; 2. Columbine (Littleton); 3. Regis Jesuit (Aurora); 4. ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch)
Overview: It's interesting to note that 5A has not had a team win back-to-back championships since Heritage (Littleton) did it in 1991-92, but Grandview has a strong shot to end that streak. The Wolves' only blemish this spring was a scoreless tie with Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) on March 17. … Columbine won it all two years ago, and the team's only loss this season came to Grandview in overtime in the regular-season finale. Opposing teams scored five goals on the Rebels in the final two games after only managing four in the first 13. … Two of the three teams to defeat No. 3 Regis Jesuit this season happen to be in the Raiders' quadrant. But Regis Jesuit also owns a May victory against No. 4 ThunderRidge, a semifinalist a year ago.
Keep an eye on: Broomfield at No. 12 is a team that will be a tough out. Its two losses came by a combined two goals against top-eight seeds in Monarch (Louisville) and Rocky Mountain (Fort Collins), and the Eagles took the No. 7 Lobos to two OTs. Nine of Broomfield's final 10 games were shutout victories, and the Eagles outscored opponents 72-7. … The same argument could be made for Ralston Valley (Arvada), the runner-up two years ago. The No. 20 seed, the Mustangs dropped one-goal decisions to two of the field's top four seeds. The team scored 12 goals in its final four games, and senior Alyssa Kaiser is one of 5A's best with 19 goals and 18 assists. … 14th-seeded Arapahoe (Centennial) is an interesting case. The Warriors defeated Regis Jesuit – a potential second-round opponent – 3-0 earlier this season. Arapahoe lost to Grandview by only a 2-1 margin.

Class 4A
Defending champion: Cheyenne Mountain
Top seeds: 1. Lewis-Palmer; 2. Wheat Ridge; 3. Windsor; 4. The Classical Academy
Overview: Is this year someone finally ends Cheyenne Mountain's three-year grip on the 4A crown? The Indians are the No. 6 seed after four losses, but are always in the mix. A potential quarterfinal match with No. 3 Windsor would be interesting – the Wizards were semifinalists a year ago, and the team's only loss this season came to No. 1 Lewis-Palmer. Sophomore Chaynee Kingsbury was one of 4A's top scorers with 21 goals and 11 assists. … Speaking of the Rangers, after a 1-0 loss to TCA back in March, Lewis-Palmer has won 13 in a row. Junior Brianna Alger finished the regular season with 24 goals and 10 assists.
Keep an eye on: Evergreen has been on a roll the second half of the season. The No. 10 Cougars defeated Valor Christian (seeded seventh) and battled Wheat Ridge to a tie in their regular-season finale. … Steamboat Springs will take its shot to represent the Western Slope and attempt to prove itself as the No. 8 seed. The Sailors' only loss this season came to Centaurus (Lafayette), and the squad just missed out on a quarterfinal berth last spring. Senior Ocoee Wilson allowed only six goals all season.

Class 3A
Defending champion: Colorado Academy (Denver)
Top seeds: 1. Kent Denver (Englewood); 2. Colorado Academy; 3. The Academy (Westminster); 4. Jefferson Academy (Broomfield)
Overview: The top four seeds are shuffled a bit from 2015, but are the same group that made the semifinals. …. Kent Denver went from the fourth seed last spring to the top overall spot after winning 12 of its 14 games. The only loss came to 5A Smoky Hill (Aurora). Senior Sage Digiulio leads the team in goals and assists. … Colorado Academy has won the past two 3A titles. Of the team's three losses this spring, two came to 5A squads, and the third was to Kent Denver. … The Academy was unbeaten in 15 games, including a 1-0 victory over No. 4 seed Jefferson Academy. Nineteen players scored for the Wildcats, and three finished with 12 or more assists.
Keep an eye on: Frontier Academy (Greeley), the 12th seed, opens against a St. Mary's Academy (Englewood) team it defeated April 27. A victory there would send the Wolverines against No. 5 Liberty Common (Fort Collins), which Frontier Academy edged 2-1 in the regular-season finale. That could give the squad a confidence boost in the early going … The No. 10 seed a year ago reached the quarterfinals. That spot now belongs to Peak to Peak (Lafayette), which dropped four of its final eight, but all to higher-seeded teams. The Pumas took Kent Denver to overtime.

Class 2A
Defending champion: Vail Mountain
Top seeds: 1. Dawson School (Lafayette); 2. Vail Mountain; 3. Front Range Christian (Littleton); 4. Denver Christian
Overview: The top two seeds in the 2A field just happen to be the two teams that met in last year's title game, with Vail Mountain pulling out the 2-1 victory. … Since dropping back-to-back games midway through the season, Dawson reeled off five consecutive victories, including a 3-2 triumph against Vail Mountain on May 6. Junior Hannah Isenhart scored all three of her team's goals, giving her 34 on the season. … The Gore Rangers dropped two of their final three games. … Front Range Christian sophomore Elisa Dean (12 goals) and senior Sophie Kern (11) combined for 23 of the team's 43 goals this season.
Keep an eye on: Telluride is the No. 7 overall seed and perhaps the biggest unknown in the field. The Miners only won three games last spring and didn't make the inaugural bracket, and given its location, didn't play a single 2A playoff team this season. Telluride played 3A qualifiers Bayfield and Pagosa Springs four times though, going 1-1-2 against those teams.