ENGLEWOOD — The mark of a good team is not how it plays on good days but how it overcomes the bad ones.
Top-seeded Grandview got all it could possibly want from 20th-seeded Rocky Mountain on Saturday, but when push came to shove (literally and figuratively), the Wolves were the last standing.
Grandview (17-1-1) returned to the Class 5A title game for the first time since 2004 with a 1-0 victory courtesy of Cameron Gorsevski’s penalty kick in the 68th minute at Englewood Stadium.
“We probably took these guys a little bit for granted,” Grandview senior striker Nick Fish said. “We beat these guys 4-1 during the regular season, but they had good chances then, too. We just underestimated them.”
Fish’s work set up Gorsevski’s goal. Fish was one-on-one with Rocky’s Alex Borchert and was primed to take a rip on net, but Borchert’s attempted tackle got more leg than it did ball, and the call had to be made.
“I just wanted to get in there and try to cut back or do something with it,” said Fish of the play. “I didn’t mean to intentionally fall. He took my legs out.”
Rocky Mountain (11-7-1) had its chances, including Jeff Westra’s wall-busting direct free kick that squirted just wide in the first half. Grandview, playing without coach Bruce Brown (forced to sit after receiving his third red card in five years in the first round of the playoffs) hounded Rocky’s quarterfinal hero, Ryan Kawoluk, and didn’t allow the senior much of anything down the stretch.
“I think we thought we could just step on the field and get a similar result, like we did against Lewis-Palmer,” Grandview keeper Brian Sherpe said. “This was a good wake up call. … We got lucky.”
Rocky Mountain kept itself in the game late after starting goalie Roberto Perez was carded for his collision with Zach Portillos-Grant just outside the top of the box. Backup Clay Sale came in and made a great save to keep the Lobos within reach.
“It’s frustrating, because I think we had the majority of the chances,” Rocky Mountain coach Daniel Ibañez said. “They did everything except find the back of the net.”
Rocky Mountain 0 0 – 0
Grandview 0 1 – 1
Goal – Gorsevski (penalty kick), 68th minute. Shots on goal – Rocky Mountain 4-1 – 5; Grandview 3-3 – 6. Saves – Rocky Mountain (Perez, 78 mins.) 3-1 – 4, (Sale, 2 mins.) 0-1 – 1; Grandview (Sherpe) 4-1 – 5. Corner kicks – Rocky Mountain 7-0 – 7; Grandview 3-1 – 4. Offsides – Rocky Mountain 3-2 – 5; Grandview 0-0 – 0. Fouls – Rocky Mountain 5-3 – 8; Grandview 5-1 – 6. Yellow cards – Patterson (2), G, 18th and 52nd (soft red); Emge, RM, 62nd; Perez, RM, 72nd; Schafer, G, 75th.
