Greenwood Village – Soccer really is a simple game – all a player has to do is run around and kick a ball into the goal.
Kent Denver made it look pretty easy Wednesday as the Sun Devils dominated Class 3A Metropolitan League rival Holy Family, scoring three goals in the second half in a 4-0 victory at Justin DeSorrento Memorial Field.
The Sun Devils, ranked No. 2 in The Denver Post/9News poll, seemed to win every ball in the air and had the eighth-ranked Tigers chasing their tails.
“Playing the ball is easy,” Kent Denver coach Arty Smith said of his winning strategy. “If we do that, we’ve got enough depth we can get some different opportunities.”
The Sun Devils got goals from four players while notching their third consecutive shutout and seventh this season.
All-state halfback Skyler Patrick scored one goal and assisted on another and senior James Franz had two assists as Kent Denver improved to 9-1, 6-0 in league.
“We play very calm,” Patrick said. “Winning the ball in the air was really a big goal for us in the beginning of the season, and it has really helped us out a lot.”
Holy Family coach Keith Tiemeyer said he felt like Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil after the Broncos roughed up his Chiefs on Monday. Although the Tigers were missing Justin Hazlewood (red card) and Matt Locricchio (injury), Tiemeyer was embarrassed by his team’s lack of fight.
“That team was big, strong, fast, technically good, they’re very organized, they absolutely overwhelmed us at times and we didn’t feel like playing,” Tiemeyer said.
Holy Family was held scoreless for the first time this season, falling to 4-2-1, 2-1-1.
The Sun Devils got on the board in the 20th minute when an unmarked Geoff Straight headed Franz’s free kick past Tigers sophomore goalie Matt Wolfe.
Kent Denver had the edge in possession but didn’t score again until Scott Brown’s close-range effort in the 57th minute.
With the Tigers on their heels, the Sun Devils scored again five minutes later when a nice pass by Tyler Morton allowed Patrick to charge in from the end line, where he slipped a low shot past Wolfe.
Holy Family 0 0 – 0
Kent Denver 1 3 – 4
Goals – Straight (Franz), 20th minute; Brown (Patrick), 57th; Patrick (Morton), 62nd; Cunningham (Franz), 71st.
Shots on goal – Holy Family 1-0 – 1; Kent Denver 2-5 – 7. Saves – Holy Family (Wolfe) 1-2 – 3; Kent Denver (Bernstein) 1-0 – 1. Offsides – Holy Family 0-1 – 1; Kent Denver 0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Holy Family 0-0 – 0; Kent Denver 1-2 – 3. Fouls – Holy Family 8-2 – 10; Kent Denver 6-2 – 8.
