Colorado’s 2006 schoolboy pitch will wrap up tonight in strikingly similar fashion to that of recent years, with two finals that are rematches for dominant programs in the top two classifications.
At Englewood High School, defending Class 5A champion Fort Collins will take on Smoky Hill, the 2005 runner-up, at 5 p.m. Then Broomfield, last year’s 4A winner, will meet Liberty, second in 2005, at 7:30.
Smoky Hill will be in its third consecutive 5A final (the Buffaloes were champions in 2004) and seeks a fourth championship since 1999. While Fort Collins won its second title last year (the Lambkins nabbed their first in 1990), Broomfield and Liberty, in its seventh straight championship game, have dominated 4A with a combined six titles since 1996, three each.
Additional replay: Smoky Hill beat Fort Collins 2-1 in overtime earlier this season; for Broomfield-Liberty, it was a 2-2 tie.
“It’s always a great thing,” Smoky Hill coach Danny Winsor said of a rematch.
His Buffaloes downed Arapahoe in the semifinals on a goal by Matt Hammett. As for Fort Collins, which replaced most of its starters from a year ago but gained confidence in nonleague games, taking advantage of opportunities such as the deflection for a goal by Will Pomeroy in a 1-0 semifinal victory over Ponderosa will be vital against Buffaloes all-Colorado goalie Miguel Rosales.
Liberty coach Mike Goyden said: “It will be nice to play the defending state champions,” although he questioned how his Lancers finished a 2-0 victory (goals by Owen McCarthy and Kyle Joern) in the previous round against Golden. Laying back, he said, won’t work against Broomfield, which is the only unbeaten (18-0-1) team in tonight’s finals and has won the level’s past three boys and girls championships (the Eagles girls won last spring).
The Eagles, who got semifinal goals from Ryan Garren and Kyle Reddy, have lost only one of their past 39 games. Not surprisingly, their loss prior to the streak came to Liberty, 5-3 in the 2004 quarterfinals.
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
