WESTMINSTER — Sidra Bonner was cleaning house Wednesday.
“House” for the Kent Denver sweeper, was anything in the vicinity of the Sun Devils’ penalty area. Bonner even paid a visit to The Academy’s house in the first half and scored a thundering header off a corner kick in a 4-0 Class 3A state soccer playoff victory.
“We knew they had a couple of key players. They had three girls that had combined for 48 goals, so we knew” the Sun Devils had to play their best, Bonner said of the previously undefeated Wildcats.
Meg Murphy scored two goals and Marsha Harper completed the comfortable win with an unassisted strike in the 65th minute as the No. 7 Sun Devils (11-4) won their sixth straight to keep their pursuit of a third consecutive state championship alive.
Kent Denver will face Metropolitan League rival Denver Christian (11-4) on Saturday after the 15th-seeded Crusaders eliminated No. 2 Alexander Dawson on Wednesday.
Four goals of offense against the Wildcats were especially welcome considering the Sun Devils lost sophomore playmaker Camille Solarte to a season-ending knee injury April 28.
Bonner marshaled a Sun Devils’ defense that did not allow a shot on goal while effectively bottling up The Academy’s Meghan Garcia, Sarah Ritterholz and midfielder Erin Aragon.
The 10th-seeded Wildcats (15-1) had not given up more than a single goal since March 11 and had outscored the competition 89-5 this season en route to a Frontier League championship.
Murphy’s opener and Bonner’s header made it 2-0 at halftime before Murphy drilled her second goal.
Kent Denver 2 2 — 4
The Academy 0 0 — 0
Goals — Murphy (Martin), 17th minute; Bonner (E. McGonagle), 34th; Murphy (Karpas), 49th; Harper (unassisted), 65th.
Shots on goal — Kent Denver 4-3 — 7; The Academy 0-0 — 0. Saves — Kent Denver (Kraus) 0-0 — 0; The Academy (Watts) 2-1 — 3. Offsides — Kent Denver 0-1 — 1; The Academy 0-0 — 0. Corner kicks — Kent Denver 5-0 — 5; The Academy 2-1 — 3. Fouls — Kent Denver 5-7 — 12; The Academy 2-5 — 7. Yellow cards — Sklenar, TA, 69th minute; Garcia, TA, 75th; Gomez, TA, 77th. Red card — Gomez, TA, 77th.
