Kent Denver won the 3A girls soccer championship. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
COMMERCE CITY — On the soccer pitch, there just aren’t many programs like Kent Denver.
The Sun Devils cemented themselves in the record books with a rare feat — winning state championships in both boys and girls soccer in the same school year. The boys won Class 3A over Fountain Valley in the fall, while the girls claimed a 3A title of their own Tuesday over Colorado Academy at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Kent rode a 2-0 halftime lead to a 3-1 victory, preventing the Mustangs from winning a third championship in a row.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Sage DiGiulio said. “It just shows that Kent, as a soccer program, is reaching new levels.”
For a girls program with a rich tradition — five state championships and three runner-ups — Kent Denver was appearing in their first title game since winning back-to-back in 2007 and 2006. The Sun Devils had lost in the semifinals for three straight years before 2016.
The Sun Devils built a 1-0 lead four minutes into the game on a goal by sophomore Emma Billings. DiGiulio, a junior midfielder entering Tuesday with a team-leading 17 goals, notched one to make it 2-0 midway through the first half. Things stayed that way at the break, though Kent had a late goal disallowed by an offsides whistle.
In the second half, Colorado Academy applied pressure with a goal by Sarah Masiner on a beautiful assist to the middle of the field by Maddie Bauer with 26 minutes to go.
But Kent sealed things when DiGiulio scored a header goal on a beautiful cross from Shelby Schumacher with six minutes remaining. That made it 3-1.
“I asked my teammate if I should go in and she was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ I knew I had to get my head on the ball, so I did anything I could just to get it and redirect it. It was a great ball by Shelby.”
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Kent Denver, now with the third-most girls soccer state championships (five) behind only Arapahoe (9) and Cheyenne Mountain (six), finally pushed past the Final 4 again.
“I think for one, we’re healthy,” Kent coach Krista Pearman said. “It’s huge in the soccer game if some of your girls are not healthy. Having to find different roles and some of those configurations, it’s challenging.
“We’re healthy and I think with that came just some confidence. Being able to beat some teams in a way that we were very proud of, controlling the game from start to finish, for girls that’s a huge confidence boost.”
The Sun Devils finished off a 16-1-1 season with only a loss to 5A Smoky Hill, capping off their best season in years with their coach’s first state championship. They outscored their opponents 69-9, senior goalkeeper Oakley Wurzweiler only gave up six goals in well over 1,000 minutes, and weapons like DiGiulio, Schumacher, Billings and Isabelle Roseto led a team that proved overwhelming for most.
Pearman says the seniors refused to end their careers without a championship.
“It’s nice to see it all come together,” she said. “We’ve been to the semifinals three years unsuccessful to move on. I think this year was big with eight seniors that know what it is being so close and yet so far.”
Colorado Academy, which was also after its fifth state championship in girls soccer, struggled to recover from early goals by Kent. Nonetheless, the Mustangs came out fighting after the break.
Colorado Academy had a 14-4 record this season and finished as the runner-up to Kent in 3A Region 6. Colorado Academy took out The Academy, Peak to Peak and Middle Park during their run to the finals.