The crushing win seems to be an epidemic, with that happening for Wheat Ridge, Grandview, Faith Christian, Alexander Dawson and Aspen. Faith Christian (Arvada), while not facing the most rigorous opposition, last week beat George Washington 7-0 and Denver Lutheran 10-0.
The lopsided matches recently look more amplified when taking a look at last season’s Class 5A state tournament, especially after the first round. Only eventual champion Chatfield played every time without having to go into overtime.
In Class 4A, defending champion Wheat Ridge also got into the one-sided show with a 10-0 win over Northglenn in its season opener. The Farmers kept it going further with a 4-0 victory over Lakewood. That was sort of a blowout, as the game was called at halftime because of snowy conditions at Lakewood Memorial Field.
The win that Wheat Ridge coach Dan Watkins is proudest of so far, though, was only a 1-0 result. But that came against a Class 5A team, Smoky Hill. Smoky Hill is from the Centennial League and played well in the closing weeks of last season, so a tight win against the Buffaloes still is a notable victory for the 4A champs.
What’s most impressive about the Wheat Ridge start to the season is that Watkins has only one senior back from that championship team.
"We had quite a run last year, a great group of seniors and a lot of other people contributing," he said.
Forward Annie Kunz, last year’s 4A player of the year, returns for the Farmers and so does playmaker Bella Hartley. Kunz scored 35 goals last season and is headed to Texas A&M. Hartley importance in the Wheat Ridge offense was recognized as by being named an All-Colorado player, an honor shared by Kunz.
State contenders abound
Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch), not having any seniors last season, returns pretty much everybody from a runner-up team with a 17-1 record and is coached by Brock Becker. The Eagles play at the 4A level.
Faith Christian, which won the Class 3A championship two years ago and was then ousted last year by St. Mary’s, has had some loss of players to graduation and a transfer, but coach Amber Jenkins is heartened by the talented diversity on offense and promising players in the back.
"I think we should do really well," Jenkins said. "We don’t have a lot of depth, so I’m hoping to avoid injuries."
Middle Park (Granby) made an early splash in the 3A ranks this season, winning the Mesa Ridge tournament in Colorado Springs. The Panthers beat Harrison 9-0, Mitchell 3-1 and Fountain-Fort Carson 2-1. Middle Part upped its record to 4-0, but faces a really strong schedule this week with games on Wednesday against Holy Family and Saturday against Jefferson Academy.
Anyway, back to the 5A state tournament last year. The closeness of the field was shown by the stream of overtime matches for the big teams to win. Air Academy, Chatfield’s opponent in the championship match, needed overtime just to get past Grandview, 1-0, in the second round.
Arapahoe, which Air Academy beat 2-1 in the semifinals, had advanced after a 1-0 overtime win against Pine Creek in the quarterfinals and the same overtime score versus Dakota Ridge the match before. Dakota Ridge was the only team that needed overtime to win in the first round, 2-1 against Doherty.
Apart from a 7-0 whipping of Westminster in the first round, even No. 1 Chatfield had it tight, albeit not to the point of having to go an extra period. All that made for an interesting tournament and quite the contrast so far to this season.
