Karen Abt has ascended a great deal since she last officiated a high school soccer game in 2009, as she has spent the past seven years as a professional official on the FIFA panel, the world’s highest level of officiating.
A Colorado native, Abt will soon return high school action when she takes the field to referee the Class 5A girls soccer state championship game between Rock Canyon and Broomfield on Saturday at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.
(Karen Abt)
“I’m really excited to referee one of the Colorado high school state championships because it allows me an opportunity to give back to soccer,” Abt said. “The game and the people I have met over the years have afforded me so many opportunities to travel the world, experience things I had never imagined and make life-long friends. So, it is important to me to give back to the game so that others can enjoy as well, and aspire to achieve what I have.
“I want to encourage and inspire our younger referees, and for them to know that the opportunities are limitless if they put the time and effort into officiating. And just maybe, even get some of the players to consider officiating at some point. There is also a purity about high school soccer. They are playing for the love of the game. I’m looking forward to that.”
Abt grew up in Fort Collins and went to Rocky Mountain High School. She has been on the FIFA panel since 2016. She works at the Colorado School of Mines in the Advanced Steel Processing and Products Research Center and in her minimal free time, trains and referees.
On Saturday, Abt said she is looking forward to an opportunity to help serve the Colorado high school soccer community that helped her get to where she is today.
“I am most looking forward to working at home with my Colorado referee family,” Abt said. “I travel so often that having a weekend at home is a gift. I’m excited to work with those who have encouraged, supported, and helped me along the way. There’s a comfort in coming home to the mountains and my soccer family.”
Even though Eaton’s game today technically didn’t have the inherit pressure of an elimination game, the Reds still played with all the desperation one would expect from a team whose season is on the line.
Eaton — the second seed in the eight-team Class 3A state baseball tournament — grinded its way to a 2-1 win against top-seeded Lutheran in a semifinal game today at Frederick High School.
The Reds (20-1) will face No. 4 The Classical Academy (13-7) in the first of possibly two finals games at 10 a.m. Saturday in Frederick.
After today’s win against Lutheran (19-2), Eaton improved to 4-0 in the double-elimination tournament. With the Reds being the only team still unbeaten in the tournament, The Classical Academy would have to defeat Eaton twice Saturday — including in a second finals game at 12:30 p.m. — to wrestle the title from the Reds’ firm grasp.
Eaton needs to win just once Saturday to add on to their state record 11 state baseball championships.
And, just like the approach toward today’s semifinals game, the Reds will look to secure that one win in just one game Saturday.
“It’s been the same intensity all year; we ramped it up this game,” said Eaton senior pitcher Ryan Ure, who will pitch for Oklahoma State University next year. “We came out here wanting to win. We never want to lose. So, we were ready.”
Ure’s focus level on the mound showed signs from the get-go of the Reds’ intention to play today’s game as if it were must-win.
In a 113-pitch, six-inning outing, he allowed just one earned run on three hits, striking out 10 and walking three.
Arguably the biggest surprise of the state tournament’s final four kept its Cinderella story alive for at least another game, as fourth-seeded The Classical Academy edged No. 3 Faith Christian 5-4 today in the other semifinal game.
The Titans upset top-seeded Lutheran 12-2 in the second round of the tournament June 18 before taking a late lead but faltering in the last 1 1/2 innings to lose to second-seeded Eaton 11-10 in the third round this past Sunday.
TCA didn’t allow today’s semifinals game to slip away in similar fashion, despite some tense moments late in the game.
The Titans erased an early 2-0 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the third. TCA then tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth. Those insurance runs would prove critical moments later.
Trailing 5-2 heading into the final inning, Faith Christian scored a pair of runs to pull within 1 but was ultimately denied the late-game comeback.
At four different sites, Colorado’s top high school girls soccer teams spent Wednesday afternoon and evening battling it out in order to decide which of them would square off for their respective classification championships on Saturday at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs. The championship matchups are now set in all four classes.
Class 2A – No. 2 Dawson vs. No. 1 Telluride – 9 a.m.
Class 4A – No. 12 Holy Family vs No. 2 Evergreen – Noon
Class 5A – No. 2 Broomfield vs. No. 4 Rock Canyon – 3 p.m.
Class 3A – No. 1 Kent Denver vs. No. 10 Colorado Academy – 6 p.m.
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Class 5A
(4) Rock Canyon 1, (1) Valor Christian 0
The Rock Canyon girls soccer team has never won a state championship but the Jaguars have will have a chance to change that now that they have pushed their way into the state Season D state title game.
Getting past the No. 1 overall seed, No. 4 Rock Canyon (12-1) won 1-0 over top-seeded Valor Christian (11-1-1) in the Class 5A state semifinals on Wednesday. The Jaguars are on a 12-game win streak and will be looking to take home a trophy with lucky win No. 13 at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
(2) Broomfield 1, (3) Cherry Creek 0
Sophomore Raegan Kotschau’s goal just before halftime turned out to be a big one, as it ended up being the lone score in a defensive battle against Cherry Creek that sent Broomfield into the Class 5A state championship game.
With both teams entering the semifinals without a loss, the Eagles (12-0-1) and Bruins (11-1) had allowed a combined 15 goals in 24 games before meeting up at Englewood High School on Wednesday. For the most part the constest played out as expected, with both defenses and goalkeepers stifling their opponents’ offenses until one team or the other finally put a ball in the back of the net.
That team, Broomfield, will now have the opportunity to play for its first state title since 2006.
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Class 4A
(12) Holy Family 1, (1) Northridge 0
The lowest seed remaining in the Colorado high school girls soccer postseason made a big move on Wednesday night.
Twelfth-seeded Holy Family (10-2) knocked off No. 1 Northridge (12-1), 1-0, in the Class 4A state semifinals and will play for a state championship at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday. Jaelen Giron put the stamp on the biggest upset of the Colorado semifinals with a goal in the 62nd minute to give the Tigers an opportunity to play for a state title in Season D.
On Saturday, the Holy Family girls soccer team will play for the program’s first state title.
(2) Evergreen 1, (3) The Classical Academy 0
Wednesday evening certainly wasn’t a bad one for Evergreen athletics.
While the Cougars’ girls lacrosse team was in Aurora stamping the school’s name on the first ever Class 4A girls lacrosse trophy, the Evergreen girls soccer team was at Frederick High School crafting a 1-0 semifinal victory over No. 3 The Classical Academy (12-1-2). The second-seeded Cougars (13-0) remain unbeaten in Season D and will play for the 4A title on Saturday.
Through 13 games, the Cougars have allowed just four goals this season. Wednesday’s defensive shutout dealt The Classical Academy its first loss of the campaign.
Evergreen girls soccer has won two state championships, but has not taken home a first-place trophy since 1997.
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Class 3A
(1) Kent Denver 2, (4) Jefferson Academy 1
Kent Denver remains unbeaten in Season D. More importantly, that undefeated record has now earned the team an opportunity to play for a the Class 3A state championships.
In Wednesday’s semifinal round, the top-seeded Sun Devils (11-0-2) won 2-1 over No. 4 Jefferson Academy (10-2-1) and will head down to Colorado Springs for one more game on Saturday. After getting past a similarly defensively-talented Jaguars team on Wednesday, the Sun Devils will arrive at Weidner Field having outscored their Season D opponents 68-5.
(10) Colorado Academy 4, (3) Vail Mountain 0
With a pair of first-half goals and two more in the second half, No. 10 Colorado Academy (10-2-1) flew past No. 3 Vail Mountain (12-1) in the Class 3A state semifinals on Wednesday night at Stutler Bowl in Aurora.
The victory continued an impressive postseason run for the Mustangs, who have now outscored their three playoff opponents 11-1 and have not allowed a goal since the opening round. Colorado Academy girls soccer won its fifth state title in 2019 and will be looking to add a sixth when the Mustangs take the field in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
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Class 2A
(1) Telluride 4, (2) Crested Butte 1
Ayla Kanow wasn’t ready to officially start her summer break just yet, so she made sure the Telluride girls soccer team stuck around for the Class 2A championship game.
The junior scored three goals in a 4-1 victory over No. 4 Crested Butte (9-3) in the state semifinals on Wednesday afternoon to help the top-seeded Miners (12-0) punch their ticket to the final match of Season D. Wednesday’s game was tied 1-1 at halftime before Telluride exploded for three goals in the second half.
In Saturday’s state championship game, the unbeaten Miners will be playing for their program’s first state title.
(2) Dawson 9, (3) Denver Christian 3
Dawson has played in every single Class 2A girls soccer championship game since the classification was introduced in 2015. That’s five in a row and the Mustangs will make it six when they take the field at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
In the semifinals on Wednesday evening, No. 2 Dawson (10-1) won 9-3 over No. 3 Denver Christian (10-1), the same program they have face in each of the past three state title tilts. While that championship rivalry won’t continue in Season D, the Mustangs will have a chance to keep their own streak of championship appearances alive when they face Telluride for the trophy.
The Mustangs led 4-2 at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half to pull away to a safe distance. The Mustangs’ only loss of the season to date came on June 10 against Northridge, the top overall seed in the 4A state tournament.
Dawson senior Degen Miller leads all of Class 2A in goals scored.
Evergreen won the school’s first girls lacrosse title Wednesday night at Legacy Stadium with a 19-5 victory in the Class 4A state title game against Castle View. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
AURORA — Rachel Sanford knew when she took over Evergreen’s girls lacrosse program three years ago the Cougars could win a state championship.
“It’s crazy,” Evergreen senior Margo Miller said. “Rachel (Sanford) when she first came to our school she looked at the (trophy) wall and said one day you are going to be state champs. I was a sophomore then and we all kind of laughed, but today is that day.”
Top-seeded Evergreen finished off its historic season by winning the first-ever Class 4A girls lacrosse state championship Wednesday night at Legacy Stadium in Aurora. The Cougars took a 19-5 victory over No. 10 Castle View.
“This is awesome,” Evergreen sophomore Bella Reece, who had six goals in the state title game. “To make a name for Evergreen. This is so big. All of our seniors they hyped us up and brought our team together this year. I’m so excited.”
The Cougars (11-2 record) never trailed in the title game. Evergreen scored 10 unanswered goals in the final 13 minutes of the first half to grab a commanding 14-2 lead after halftime.
For the second straight playoff game Evergreen induced a running-clock with a 10-goal lead in the first half.
“We had to come out super strong and look for that extra pass,” Reece said. “We were hyped. We were able to get that running-clock before halftime.”
The Cougars had one of the most potent offensive attacks in 4A this season. Miller, along with sophomores Averi Gardner and Reece all finishing the season with 40-goal seasons.
“That’s pretty sweet,” Miller said about the three 40-goal scorers. “ Bella and Averi are studs. I’m so excited to see what they do in the future with this program. It was so great to have so many offensive threats.”
Senior goalie Lauren Spence and Evergreen’s defense held all opponents under double-digit goals during the Cougars’ 11-game winning streak to finish the year. Spence will head to continue her playing career at Loyola University Maryland.
The Cougars had defeated the Sabercats earlier this season. Evergreen took a 14-7 win against Castle View back on May 28.
Castle View actually entered the state tournament with a 5-5 record, but the Sabercats went on a remarkable run in the state tournament. They upset Golden, Aspen and Grand Junction to make Castle View’s first girls lacrosse season a memorable one, but the Cougars ended the Sabercats run in the title game.
“We have really been building to the level of play that we are showing now all season long,” Sanford said. “We have prepared all week and pretty much all season to show up today and they did.”
Evergreen got off a bit of a rough start this season with opening losses to 5A programs ThunderRidge and Fairview. However, the top-seeded Cougars hit their stride winning 11 straight games to close out the season. Eight of those victories were by double-digit margins.
“After the first two game we really learned what we needed to do,” Reece said of the 0-2 start. “We got to play two amazing 5A teams and were able to grow from that. Our team has developed so much.”
Evergreen becomes the first Jeffco Public School to ever win a girls lacrosse state title.
“It’s so great to end it like this,” said Miller, who will play lacrosse at Cornell University.
AURORA – The Colorado Academy girls lacrosse team has done it again.
On Wednesday at Legacy Stadium, the top-seeded Mustangs won 14-3 over No. 2 Valor Christian to claim the Class 5A state championship. Colorado Academy has now won the last six 5A state championships and boasts seven in total.
For as long as the Mustangs have dominated Class 5A, this current group of seniors hardly remembers what it feels like to lose. When playing for their high school team, in fact, they never have.
“It’s been crazy, but this is so nice,” Mustangs seniors defender Mya Rutherford said. “We lost our season last year but we brought everybody back together, got back on the road and it just feels so good to be back on the field together and playing. And winning the state championship, it’s unbeatable.”
(Brad Cochi/CHSAANow)
Unbeatable is a good way to describe Colorado Academy girls lacrosse in recent years. The last time the Mustangs lost a game was April 20, 2017.
On Wednesday against Valor Christian, a team they beat 15-12 during the regular season, the Mustangs rode a flurry of late first-half goals to an 8-2 halftime advantage. They followed up that early-game performance by holding Valor Christian to one goal in the second half.
After entering the state tournament with a first-round bye, the Mustangs outscored their three postseason opponents 51-10 and did not allow more than four goals in any playoff game. The Mustangs defense, anchored by Rutherford, was as stout as ever in Season D’s final game. Against it, Valor Christian’s talented scoring leaders Tess Osburn (45 goals) and Regan Digby (39), Eliza Osburn (30), Kaley Kakac (29) and Lauren Rismani (23 goals, 46 assists) combined for combined for just two goals.
“Tonight, we played really well,” Mustangs senior Jessie Bakes said. “All of our hard work throughout the season has helped us clean up all of our little mistakes. In practice, we’re playing the best defense and they’re playing the best offense because we’re playing each other. We just gave it our all and left it all out on the field.”
Bakes, who finished the season with a team-high 54 goals, scored twice on Wednesday. Teammates Zoe Martin and Katharine Merrifield each recorded a hat trick in the title game.
Wednesday’s title game was the first 5A championship game that didn’t include Cherry Creek since the sport was sanctioned in 1998.
LAKEWOOD – Fairview knocked off Mountain Vista, 4-2, behind a stellar outing from Finley Daecher in the first game of the day at All-Star Park in Lakewood. An offensive outburst from Valor Christian gave the Eagles all they needed to take care of Fort Collins, 10-1, in Game 2.
Fairview and Valor Christian will square off at 10 a.m. on Friday for the right to play Mountain Vista in the 5A championship game, which is slated for 1 p.m.
Finley Daecher was the story for the Knights, as the left-handed pitcher kept the Golden Eagles off balance all morning from the sidearm slot. The senior went 6 2/3 innings and only allowed two runs while striking out three.
“Our defense is amazing and they just backed me up all game. I was able to work both sides of the zone and that was our game plan, to keep them on their toes,” Daecher said. “It was great to go through a lot of innings so we can keep some arms fresh for tomorrow and I’m glad I could come through for my guys.”
Vista had some terrific chances to strike, loading the bases in the fifth and putting the tying run on base again in the seventh, but could not scratch anything across. Coach Castillo turned to his bullpen with two outs in the seventh and gave the ball to freshman Anton Keith, who came in and got a ground out to shortstop to nail down his first career save.
“The goal was to play in the last game of the season and win it,” Fairview head coach David Castillo said. “Obviously, to do that we are going to need everybody. Looking at matchups to find the best way to win, we saw that (Finley) was our guy and in order to get to tomorrow we needed something, and he did it today.”
Fairview was clutch when it got into a jam, stranding 11 Golden Eagles on base.
“They hit some balls hard, but we made key plays when we needed to,” Castillo continued. “The defense has been there for us all year and we have been practicing all week on our football field to get used to playing on turf. The guys stayed calm and minimized damage when they needed to, especially in that first inning and that was huge for our success today.”
The second game of the day started with a bang, as starting pitcher Brant Kragel tripled to the gap in left center. Blake Wilson was key to the Valor Christian offense, roping a double off the wall in left center in the first then scoring the next batter. An inning later, he hit a fly ball just left of the 390 sign in center field that plated three runs and put him on third base.
“Blake (Wilson) is one of the most underrated players in the state,” Valor coach Keith Wahl said. “He is a middle infielder whose got pop, has a great work ethic and throws 90 mph across the diamond. We are so blessed to have him.”
Every hitter for the Valor Christian side reached base and that is exactly what coach Wahl preaches.
“We talk about quality at bats all the time,” Wahl said. “Hit the ball with maximum velocity, have a plan at the plate and execute that plan. These guys never chase outside the zone and do a great job at the dish. These guys are dialed in right now.”
Kragel was tremendous both on the bump and at the plate, throwing a complete game and only allowing six hits. He reached base safely in four of five at-bats and started the game with a triple on the first pitch
“I tried to come out and be aggressive and put myself in a spot to help the team get the win,” Kragel said. “Starting the day with a triple, I felt like it was going to be a pretty good day. We are going to have a great chance tomorrow and I am excited for the chance to compete.”
AURORA – The Class 4A state tournament was anything but a made for television event. There wasn’t one ounce of drama after Day 1 for either Holy Family’s Jessica Mason or the Discovery Canyon Thunder.
Both had sizable leads after Monday’s first round, and both expanded on them on a blazing Tuesday afternoon at CommonGround Golf Course.
Mason kept the medalist honors at Holy Family, following her teammate Hailey Schalk’s three-year hold on the event from 2017-19. She won by 10 shots and of the three subpar rounds that were shot over the two days, she had two of them, going 69-71, for a two-day total of 140. She was 10 shots better than Mullen’s Sofia Choi, whose eagle on No. 18 to close out her second round helped her match Mason’s 71.
Discovery Canyon’s foursome of Emily and Christina Cheng, Mena Song-Lew and Lauren Jaworowski were even better on Day 2 and blew out the field by 34 shots over a Windsor team that rallied from a tough first day to earn some hardware.
Emily Cheng (74), Lauren Cheng (78) and Song-Lew (78) all placed in the top 15 and Joworowski was 23rd for the Thunder, who claimed their first state title in the sport and the first girls title for the school that opened in 2007.
“This means everything,” said an emotional Thunder coach Mark Liggett, whose wife Susan begged her husband to join his team on Tuesday after missing Day 1 to be by her side in the hospital in Colorado Springs as she recovered from multiple surgeries.
“They are all really serious about their games and they came out here and they got down to business.”
It was a brilliant run for Discovery Canyon, which graduates just Christina Cheng, and will return its full compliments including several up and coming freshmen. The Thunder rolled through regionals and with their No. 1 ranking through iWanamaker, had their sights firmly set on proving to those north of I-70 that good golf was being played down south.
“We don’t deal with the Northern teams that much (especially this year), so we didn’t really know what they were thinking,” Liggett said.
Tuesday may very well have been the perfect elixir for Liggett’s soul.
“Just being up here and being with them, I didn’t want to miss it,” said Liggett, who has been married to his lovely for 35 years.. “She was feeling a little better and she told me last night to go, you can’t do anything else for me at the hospital.
“I love being able to cheer them on and watch them play their game and watch them break through.”
As for Mason, she was in control from the start. She just kept making pars and her nearest playing competitors — Mead’s Timbre Shehee and Emily Cheng — were making random bogeys to fall further behind.
“I wasn’t super nervous on No. 1 because I knew I had an eight shot lead and I just kept telling myself ‘I’m not going to blow it today and if I do, I’m going to be very upset,” Mason said. “When the lead continued to grow, I just had to keep doing what I was doing, but don’t be arrogant about it. Be who you are and play your game.”
Mason was fearless throughout the day and the highlight of her day came at the 451-yard par-5 No. 11. She hit 8-iron in from 196 yards and just missed the elusive albatross by inches as the ball rolled over the cup and settled 2 feet behind it for a tap in eagle that took her to 6-under for the tournament.
“This means a lot, because freshman year (after finishing fifth) I was just kind of behind (Hailey) and now that I’m not, it’s nice to say that I’ve always been here,” Mason said. “It’s just coming to grips with my game and getting better.
“Feels good to keep the legacy going and hopefully next year too.”
ENGLEWOOD – Back-to-back goals from Kevin Papa helped Cheyenne Mountain overcome a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to topple Evergreen, 5-4, in the Class 4A boys lacrosse state championship on Tuesday evening at Englewood High School.
Cheyenne Mountain, which won the state title in 2018, earned the second state title in program history and avenged a 10-9 loss to Golden in the 2019 finals.
Kevin Papa was the hero for the Indians, scoring the last two goals, a turnaround strike off the far post with just under four minutes left in the game, then again with 48 seconds left in the contest as he streaked across the face of goal from a Zak Paige pass.
“It was an awesome game,” Papa said. “All of my boys put me in a good position to score and we just made it happen in the second half. We were getting our shots all game, just some of them weren’t falling. We just played like we know how and tried to move the ball faster than they could move their feet.”
Not to be understated was the tremendous effort by Cheyenne Mountain. Goalkeeper Matthew Kelleher came up with eight terrific saves to hold the Cougars well below their scoring average.
“It was a tough, physical game out there today, the refs definitely let us play, but I thought they called a great game,” Kelleher said. “We just kept our composure and playing like we know how.”
The defenses excelled on both sides, as Andrew Morris stifled the Cheyenne Mountain offense in goal for the most part, tallying seven saves. Defensemen Mike Crane and Jared Stiller played a hard, physical game in the trenches. Stiller even recorded a pair of long-stick goals.
Cheyenne Mountain head coach Mike Paige felt a special connection to this group in Season D.
“Last year, we had to let some seniors go and we had a phenomenal team,” Paige said. “This year’s seniors felt like that was an opportunity missed, but they weren’t going to let this one slip by. I’ve been coaching these guys since they were 4- and 5-year-olds. To see this season come together the way it did, these guys worked hard and it all magically happened.”
Evergreen made history with its first appearance in the title game and the Cougars played their hearts out, holding Cheyenne Mountain scoreless for just under 32 minutes.
It was also the second-lowest scoring game since 2006 when Cherry Creek beat Denver East, 6-2. It was the lowest scoring contest in a 4A title game since the two classifications started having separate championships in 2013.
