Thornton – They were two objects destined to meet.
One was a soccer ball, arcing through the chilly air at Five Star Stadium.
The other was Fort Collins senior Dusty Geisert.
Geisert’s smashing header eight minutes into overtime powered the Lambkins to an improbable Class 5A state championship Wednesday night with a 2-1 overtime victory over defending champion Smoky Hill.
Geisert charged in from the far side of the penalty area and crushed John Wermeling’s corner kick past all-Colorado goalkeeper Miguel Rosales to cap the ninth-seeded Lambkins’ under-the-radar run.
“I knew I was far post. (Wermeling) knew I was far post,” Geisert said. “Right away, I looked at the ball and I knew it was mine.”
Fort Collins (14-3-3) took the lead on Kris Banghart’s first-half goal before the seventh-seeded Buffaloes (14-4-2) equalized just before the hour mark behind John Garcia.
The Lambkins dominated play early behind a fluid midfield attack led by Edgar Ramirez and Collin Audley. Smoky Hill adjusted to a 3-5-2 formation in the second half, pulling in an extra midfielder and had the run of play down the stretch heading into overtime.
“We had ours and they had theirs,” Banghart said of the game’s momentum shift. “In the end, we just came out with the victory.”
Both teams created their share of scoring chances, although each of the goals came off set pieces.
“When you get these two high-level teams, it’s going to come down to those one or two things and it’s usually set pieces,” Smoky Hill coach Danny Winsor said.
The Lambkins enjoyed the majority of possession in the first half, attacking the Buffaloes from every angle.
Fort Collins grabbed the lead in the 25th minute when the Buffaloes failed to clear a corner kick. Smoky Hill headed the ball back toward Rosales’ right post, where Banghart nodded it.
“Me and two of their defenders were on the goal line and I just jumped up for it and happened to knock it in,” Banghart said.
The Lambkins poured it on in the first half, outshooting the Buffaloes 6-1 before Smoky Hill jumped back into the fray on Garcia’s equalizer.
Byron Cephers’ corner kick was met by Tony Rosales, who smashed a header at Fort Collins keeper David Martin for the initial save. The deflection fell to Garcia, who drove it home in the 58th minute.
Lambkins forward Ryan O’Connell had a looping header pushed aside by Rosales in the 65th minute and Smoky Hill nearly ended it in the final three minutes of regulation on shots by Tyler Waggoner and Charlie Bly.
“We knew we could do it,” Ramirez said. “We knew we could get a win. We didn’t want to go to (penalty kicks), that was our motivator.”
Fort Collins 1 0 1 – 2
Smoky Hill 0 1 0 – 1
Goals – FC: Banghart (unassisted), 25th minute; SH: Garcia (unassisted), 58th; FC: Geisert (Wermerling), 88th.
Shots on goal – Fort Collins 6-3-1 – 10; Smoky Hill 1-4-0 – 5. Saves – Fort Collins (Martin) 1-3-0 – 4; Smoky Hill (Rosales) 5-3-0 – 8. Offsides – Fort Collins 0-0-0 – 0; Smoky Hill 0-0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Fort Collins 2-0-1 – 3; Smoky Hill 1-5-0 – 6. Fouls – Fort Collins 8-9-2 – 19; Smoky Hill 6-5-0 – 11. Yellow cards – Deitz, FC, 62nd minute.
