Englewood – One couldn’t blame Faith Christian for greeting the state soccer semifinals with a collective yawn. After all, the Eagles have won three Class 3A championships since 2000 and have played in the past four title games.
Make it five. And don’t think for a second that the Eagles’ 4-1 victory Thursday over Colorado Academy didn’t mean anything.
“I got to hand it to our team, we were fired up for this game,” Eagles forward Grant Cowles said. “We wanted to play on Saturday.”
The Eagles scored twice in the span of 49 seconds to build a 4-0 halftime lead on just four shots as they dominated possession at Englewood High School’s Pirates Stadium. Cowles scored two goals, Sterling Copeland added another and Marcus Kirkwood converted a penalty kick and added two assists to put the Eagles (15-1-2) on cruise control.
While getting to the finals has been old hat, the Eagles lost the past two championship matches in dramatic fashion to Peak to Peak and Salida. Faith Christian plays rival Denver Christian on Saturday.
“We know we have to work hard for 80 minutes just to stay alive, to stay competitive,” Eagles coach Will Lind said.
Thursday’s result was a harsh end to second-seeded Colorado Academy’s surprising season in which the Mustangs emerged as a dark horse from the soccer-rich Metropolitan League. The Mustangs (11-6) struggled to create in the face of Faith Christian’s pressure, were on their heels early and didn’t manage a shot on goal in open play. Dylan Levine-Ruxin prevented the shutout, converting a penalty kick in the 74th minute.
“I definitely think these are very high-achieving boys,” Mustangs coach Jean-Claude Pritchard. “We didn’t necessarily have the best players in the state, but we had one of the best teams.”
Mustangs playmaker Alex Gunberg returned after picking up a knock in the 23rd minute, but was held relatively in check.
Cowles and Copeland were close early before Cowles broke the scoreless deadlock with a 22- yard blast in the 18th minute. Copeland made it 2-0 less than a minute later when he received a pass deep in the Mustangs’ penalty area and beat goalie Bobby Thalman.
Faith Christian 4 0 – 4
Colorado Academy 0 1 – 1
Goals – FC: Cowles (Mills), 18th minute; Copeland (Kirkwood), 19th; Kirkwood (penalty kick), 28th; Cowles (Kirkwood), 35th; CA: Levine-Ruxin (penalty kick), 74th. Shots on goal – Faith Christian 4-3 – 7; Colorado Academy 0-1 – 1. Saves – Faith Christian (Zevenbergen 79 minutes, Copeland 1) 0-0 – 0; Colorado Academy (Thalman 38, Cardwell 42) 4-3 – 3.
Offsides – Faith Christian 1-1 – 2; Colorado Academy 0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Faith Christian 3-1 – 4; Colorado Academy 0-4 – 4. Fouls – Faith Christian 10-8 – 18; Colorado Academy 9-7 – 16. Yellow cards – Fisher, FC, 31st minute; Sally, CA, 50th; Thompson, FC, 52nd; Vakilitibar, CA, 67th. Red card – Sally, CA, 77th minute.
