Arvada – What 110 minutes of fast and furious soccer couldn’t decide Monday night came down to a slow roller.
An agonizingly slow roller, for both sides.
With the crowd at the North Area Athletic Complex in an eerie hush, Kent Denver sophomore Erin McGonagle daintily tucked a penalty kick just inside the right post, past Faith Christian goalie Leah Zevenbergen, to shatter the silence.
“We’ve been practicing all season and luckily I got that down,” McGonagle said of her penalty kick. “I was praying she didn’t guess that side.”
McGonagle’s strike gave the Sun Devils a 4-3 victory on penalty kicks after the Class 3A Metropolitan League rivals battled to a 2-2 draw in regulation.
The win was Kent Denver’s second state championship since 2000, one that was made sweeter after losing in the 2003 and 2004 finals and coming against the defending state champions.
“I just wanted to win one for my seniors,” said Kent Denver sophomore Marsha Harper, who scored in the sixth minute, converted a penalty kick and was The Denver Post’s most valuable player. “I wanted to make sure I could do everything in my will to do it.”
Sun Devils goalie Bri Dix stopped no penalty kicks as Faith Christian freshmen Aubrey Fondy and Athena Lopez blazed their chances over the goal.
Zevenbergen’s save on Alex Marsh’s penalty kick gave the Eagles the early advantage, but Adrienne Goetz, Harper and Meg Murphy converted to set up McGonagle.
The biggest shock for the Eagles (16-1-2) was the absence of scoring phenom Marissa Ranberger from the penalty-kick lineup.
Ranberger was dinged up late in the game and told coach Will Lind she didn’t feel good enough to take a try. Lind said he let the girls decided who would shoot.
During regulation, Kent Denver (16-2-1) gave up a goal in the fifth minute to Ranberger but equalized 61 seconds later behind Harper. The Sun Devils took the lead on Marsh’s goal in the 15th minute before the Eagles leveled the match in the 52nd on a goal from Lopez.
Kent Denver 2 0 0 0 – 2 (4)
Faith Christian 1 1 0 0 – 2 (3)
Goals – FC: Ranberger (unassisted), fifth minute; KD: Harper (unassisted), sixth; Marsh (unassisted), 15th; FC: Lopez (unassisted), 52nd. Penalty kicks – KD: Goetz, Harper, Murphy, McGonagle; FC: N. Lukens, Heffner, Paulsen.
Shots on goal – Kent Denver 3-1-0-2-6; Faith Christian 5-2-2-3-12. Saves – Kent Denver (Dix) 4-1-2-3-9; Faith Christian (Zevenbergen) 1-1-0-2-4. Corner kicks – Kent Denver 1-1-1-1-4; Faith Christian 2-4-0-0-6.
Offsides – Kent Denver 2-0-1-1-4; Faith Christian 0-0-0-0-0. Fouls – Kent Denver 8-8-2-4-22; Faith Christian 7-8-2-3-20. Yellow card – N. Lukens, FC, 45th minute.
3A GIRLS SOCCER MVP
When Kent Denver lost to Faith Christian 2-0 in the regular season, the Sun Devils gave up a goal in the fourth minute and never recovered. In Monday’s state finale, the Sun Devils gave up a goal in the fifth minute but this time answered in 61 seconds. Sophomore Marsha Harper bulled her way to a goal in the sixth minute and went on to nail a penalty kick to push the second-seeded Sun Devils past the top-seeded Eagles.
