(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
(28) Mountain Vista 1, (1) Fairview 0
PARKER — It took over 76 minutes of play, but the Mountain Vista Golden Eagles finally got a great a look at the Fairview goal. And Brent Lackey was not about to miss his shot.
Lackey drove the ball past Fairview keeper Danny Richards with just over three minutes left on the clock to give Mountain Vista a 1-0 win over the Knights in the Class 5A boys soccer semifinals.
“It’s one of the best feelings of my entire life, I’m so happy,” Lackey said. “There are no words to describe how well this team has been playing. We weren’t even supposed to make the playoffs until the last game. To be able to score that goal and put us one game closer to where we want to be is a really good feeling.”
With a shot at the state title game on the line, both teams played the first half like a game of chess. Neither wanted to sacrifice too much and were careful in setting up any attack at the goal.
The Knights got early opportunities as forward Alex Weseman had a look at the Mountain Vista net, but his shot went over the net, giving the ball back to the Golden Eagles.
Seven minutes later, Weseman found Nathan Biersterfeld with a crossing pass, but Biersterfeld’s shot went wide of the net.
The story was pretty much the same for the majority of the game. It was the Knights who pressed the attack more often, but if their shots weren’t missing the net, Golden Eagles keeper Christopher Reicher was swatting them away.
“Clearly, Fairview had many more opportunities,” Mountain Vista coach Theresa Echtermeyer said. “That’s the thing about soccer, you can be on either side of that. You can be on the side that gets 15 shots on goal and doesn’t get one while your opponent gets on a counter attack.”
Lackey has been a rock for the Golden Eagles in the state tournament this season. He came up with a goal and assist in the 2-1 win over Aurora Central that put his team into the semifinals.
“I think we peaked at the right moment,” Lackey said. “It’s just believing in one in another. We stuck together as a group and we’ve come together as a family. That’s what brought us through this whole thing.”
(2) Broomfield 3, (6) Heritage 1
Defending 5A state champion Broomfield will have a chance to defend their title Saturday as they topped Heritage 2-0 in the tournament semifinals Thursday.
The No. 2 seeded Eagles won the 5A title last year, their first season of play in the classification.
Broomfield got on the board in the 19th minute with a goal from midfielder Porter Milner. It only took six minutes for the Eagles to pad the lead as Armando Ocampo stole the ball from the Heritage defense and buried a shot in the back of the net to take a 2-0 lead.
Heritage finally got on the board in the 57th minute thanks to Will Greenway. But it would be enough. Off a Milner corner kick, Justin Hamm scored on a header to push the score to 3-1, sending his Eagles back to the 5A championship game.
With the Broomfield win, it now sets up a title game that has all the makings of a Hollywood script. The defending champions who allowed only one goal in their path to the title game against the underdog who has pulled upset after upset for a chance to play for gold. The 5A state title game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.