ENGLEWOOD — Sarah Schweiss was going to get a second goal Saturday one way or another.
The Air Academy freshman scored in the sixth minute and then had a goal waved off with 15 minutes remaining. Undaunted, the striker struck with just less than three minutes remaining as the Kadets stunned No. 3 Arapahoe 2-1 to advance to the Class 5A state championship match.
Schweiss’ game-winner at Englewood Stadium came off a bouncing ball in the Warriors’ penalty area. The Warriors seemed to hesitate and Schweiss flung her leg on the ball.
“The keeper never came out, so I was like, ‘I’m going for it,’ ” Schweiss said.
The 10th-seeded Kadets (16-3-0) were buoyed by eight saves from junior goalkeeper Sarah Tanous, who made some Gumby-like stops to deny the swarming Warriors (15-1-3).
“That kid is probably the best goalkeeper in the state right now,” Warriors coach Kirk Bast said of Tanous.
Even when Tanous got beat, her defense was there. Arapahoe’s Kaitlin Bast, who scored in the 38th minute to tie the game, beat Tanous in the 62nd minute — only for defender Reilley Moore to charge in and clear the ball off the line.
The Kadets play top-seeded Chatfield on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
Air Academy 1 1 — 2
Arapahoe 1 0 — 1
Goals (assists) —AA: Schweiss (unassisted), 6th minute; A: Bast (unassisted), 38th; AA: Schweiss (Maloney), 78th.
Chatfield 1, Fairview 0
ENGLEWOOD — Anna Lowe drilled the ball 40 yards and crossed her fingers.
“I was just hoping for something that was good, whether it was in the goal, near it or somebody else could get it in,” the Chatfield senior defender said. “It looked pretty good, and then it went in.”
Lowe’s free kick in the 27th minute and some stellar goalkeeping from All-Colorado senior Alyssa Gillmore was enough Saturday as the top-seeded Chargers (18-0-1) advanced to the Class 5A state final with a 1-0 victory over No. 4 Fairview (17-2-0).
The Chargers, champions in 2004 and 1996, will play Air Academy for the title.
Lowe’s goal came 13 minutes after Gillmore made two spectacular saves off her line against Ali Mullin, who tried to head the ball over the keeper but could not evade her jumping swats, and one minute after Gillmore stopped Nikki Machalek’s breakaway.
Gillmore also made a great instinctive redirection of a blast by Annie Stuller in the 57th minute that deflected off the post.
“Their keeper kept them in the game,” Knights coach Jeremy Pinard said. “But still, when we’re one on one, we should finish it.”
Fairview 0 0 — 0
Chatfield 1 0 — 1
Goal (assist) — Lowe (free kick), 27th minute.
