HIGHLANDS RANCH — They’re ba-a-a-a-a-ck . . . in the hunt.
Denver Christian, seeded No. 2 in the Class 3A state tournament, is one step closer to repeating the feat of a second straight title — last accomplished by Faith Christian in 2002-03 — with a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Kent Denver on Thursday.
The Crusaders (15-3) will play No. 3 Colorado Academy, a team they beat 2-0 this season, on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the North Area Athletic Complex for the right to go to their third consecutive title game.
“We just couldn’t beat that keeper,” said Kent Denver coach Arty Smith, whose seventh-seeded Sun Devils finished 11-5-2. “He was awesome.”
That keeper was Brendan Roslund, who scrambled all over his goal box and made five saves, had defenders Zach Smith and Colin Lanser make two more saves and forced the Sun Devils shooters to bang countless numbers of balls off the posts.
“By far the best game I’ve ever seen him play,” Denver Christian coach Ed Buteyn said of Roslund. “He was everywhere and made a lot of great saves.”
On the other end, the Crusaders got all the offense they would need in the ninth minute. Just moments after Michael VanDenBerg missed on a header, he got another try on a beautiful serve by Luke Monsma and finished inside the near post past a sprawling Cameron Sheppard.
Monsma wasn’t done, capping the scoring with two second-half goals, including a one-touch flick of Brent Ham’s corner kick in the 55th minute. But it was his assist that he was most proud of.
“It’s always nice to assist, and playing on the wing, I usually assist more than I score,” he said. “It’s always good to score too.”
Kent Denver 0 0 — 0
Denver Christian 1 2 — 3
Goals — VanDenBerg (Monsma), 9th minute; Monsma (B. Ham), 55th; Monsma (unassisted), 80th.
Shots on goal — Kent Denver 3-4 — 7; Denver Christian 3-5 — 8. Saves — Kent Denver (Sheppard) 2-3 — 5; Denver Christian (Roslund) 2-3 — 5. Corner kicks — Kent Denver 1-3 — 4; Denver Christian 4-4 — 8. Offside — Kent Denver 0-1 — 1; Denver Christian 0-1 — 1. Fouls — Kent Denver 5-3 — 8; Denver Christian 3-2 — 5. Yellow cards — Lanser, DC, 35th; Gonzalez, KD, 39th; B. Ham, DC, 60th.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
