ENGLEWOOD — Two of the hungriest programs in Class 5A got together Tuesday and prepared a feast fit for a championship crowd.
Only the Grandview Wolves, however, left satisfied.
The top-seeded Wolves got goals from Regina Thomas and Brittany Dunn to climb out of an early hole before senior Amanda Collins got the last word in a tense and edgy affair at Pirate Field. The senior midfielder capped a fine individual move to punch the ball into the left corner with three minutes remaining to seal a dramatic 3-2 victory.
“I felt amazing,” Collins said. “I felt on top of the world.”
Ditto for the Wolves (18-1-1), the preseason No. 1 and perennial title contender for the last decade under the guidance of coach Bruce Brown. The victory, which kept the Wolves unbeaten this season against in-state competition, was Grandview’s first soccer title and Brown’s fourth in seven trips — boys and girls — with the Wolves and previously at Overland.
“Yeah, we’ve had some talented players, but we haven’t had a team full of talented players,” Brown said.
Under the leadership of longtime coach Tony Hurt, second-seeded Heritage (16-1-3) has been to six straight semifinals but had not won a championship since 1992.
The Eagles got off to a glorious start when Katy Oehring rifled a shot home in the 11th minute and Taylor Nicholls headed home Abby Loar’s cross in the 14th.
“I think it looked better than it was because we scored goals quickly on two chances out of two,” Hurt said. “But then we let in silly goals. The goals that we let in were mistakes at the back. They weren’t really well- created goals, but it got them back in the game.”
The first goal came 13 seconds after the restart as Thomas slalomed through the middle of the pitch and slotted the ball to the right side to make it 2-1. The Wolves equalized nine minutes later when Rebecca Herrera’s cross was knocked back to center by Lauren Cingoranelli for Dunn to sweep home through traffic from 10 yards out.
Herrera’s day was a microcosm of the big picture. She was beaten by Oehring for the opening goal, helped set up the equalizer and battled the rest of the game as the Wolves kept Heritage off the flanks and out of dangerous spots.
“I think we really just pulled through and showed that we wanted it more,” Herrera said.
Heritage2 0 — 2
Grandview2 1 — 3
Goals — H: Oehring (unassisted), 11th minute; Nicholls (Loar), 14th; G: Thomas (unassisted), 15th; Dunn (Cingoranelli), 24th; Collins (unassisted), 77th.
Shots on goal — Heritage 3-3 — 6; Grandview 2-3 — 5.
Saves — Heritage (Spicer) 0-2 — 2; Grandview (Hansen) 1-3 — 4.
Offsides — Heritage 0-1 — 1; Grandview 1-0 — 1.
Corner kicks — Heritage 6-0 — 6; Grandview 3-1 — 4.
Fouls — Heritage 3-6 — 9; Grandview 4-7 — 11.
Yellow cards — None.
MVP
In a game between two richly talented teams with savvy, veteran coaches, it came down to one brilliant move to break a 2-2 tie. Senior midfielder Amanda Collins got the ball with three minutes left, faked to her right and came back with a shot to her left for the victory.
