The 2018 all-state girls soccer teams honor the best players in the sport as judged by the leagues and coaches. They are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches.
Player and coach of the year was also selected by a vote of the coaches.
Last year’s champion Lauren Lehigh of Loveland, Cheyenne Mountain’s Maxine Choi, and Windsor’s Jessica Zapf all sit atop of the leaderboard after shooting a 7-over-par-78 on day one.
“I was kind of oblivious of the scores all day,” Choi said. “I honestly felt like a lot of today was a blur.”
With this being Choi’s home course, it just seemed like a normal day of golf.
“I’m much more comfortable playing here,” said Choi. “It’s just home and I don’t like I’m out of place, plus I get to go home and sleep in my own cozy bed tonight.”
She birdied 2 and 4 and finished with six bogies. A triple bogie on hole 17 kept her from breaking away with the clear lead, but she isn’t deterred by that.
“I felt like I played really well today, maybe one mess up,” said Choi. “But I’ve already forgotten about that one.”
With a strong start on the first day, Choi is far from worried and is just enjoying the ride.
“I feel like I have really improved from last year,” she said. “I’m just going to go out and play tomorrow like I played today.”
Also improving from last year, is Zapf who is looking like a seasoned pro. She came out and made a birdie on 6 and although she finished the day with eight bogeys, she avoided major trouble by not scoring any worse than bogey on any hole..
“I feel like I played pretty solid today” said Zapf. “I wish that I would’ve made a few more putts out there though. I didn’t play super good on any holes and I didn’t play bad on any holes. The greens did get me, but this isn’t my first time playing at this course and I know that I can go out and do what I know I am capable of doing.”
(Kelsey Lowry/CHSAANow.com)
Glenwood Springs made a late charge towards the end and finished the day at the top of the leaderboard in the team race, going 47-over. The next closest teams are Loveland and Windsor who tied, and both ended the day at 51-over.
“To me winning as a team is more important and that’s what I’m really playing for,” said Zapf. “They’ve been here for me all year, so to be there for them is really great.”
This year’s tournament could witness something extremely rare and exciting for Windsor. Sarah Johnson also plays for the Wizards’ soccer team, which will be playing in the state championship game on Wednesday. This means that Johnson could possibly win two state titles in two days. Johnson shot a 94 in her round and Wizards remain within four strokes as a team.
“That would be the coolest thing for Sarah and our school,” Zapf said. “We didn’t know if Sarah would even be able to play today, so it’s just really exciting that she’s here getting to experience this with us a team and that she has the opportunity to win state in golf and soccer in the same week.”
Zapf finished last year in fourth place and is using that to help motivate her to play like she knows she can.
“I’m excited to come back out tomorrow,” said Zapf. “Last year I was really close to the top and a few mistakes cost me big, so to be in this position again where I can actually win is really motivating me to go out and give it my all.”
Also looking forward to Tuesday is Loveland’s Lehigh who won last year’s 4A tournament. Paired with Zapf, Lehigh birdied 2 and 4 and finished her round with eight pars.
Loveland’s Taylor Bandemer is the closest to the top three after shooting a 83. Close behind her in a tie for fifth is Kylie Severin of Vista Peak and Lois Sheaffer of Northridge.
AURORA – In each of the previous three seasons, Windsor’s girls soccer team saw its hopes of reaching the state championship game come up just short.
So given the opportunity Saturday afternoon to finally break through in the Class 4A state semifinals, the Wizards were not about to be denied. Alexa Kopren snapped a tie with the go-ahead score on a perfect cross with a little more than 24 minutes remaining, sending top-seeded Windsor to a 2-1 victory over Silver Creek at Legacy Stadium.
Windsor (18-0-1) will play No. 2 Valor Christian for the school’s first state championship at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.
“This is so incredible,” Kopren said. “We’re so blessed to get this opportunity.”
The semifinals had been a roadblock for Windsor in previous years. The Wizards lost to Lewis-Palmer and Valor Christian in 2015 and 2016, and fell 2-1 to Evergreen a year ago.
“I think the fact that they’ve been together so long, and to have gotten here the last three years, they really thought ‘this is really it. This is our last chance,’” Wizards coach Mario Garcia said. “There’s no five years in high school, so they knew this was it.
“They were going to push through. They were going to do whatever it takes to make it happen this year. Now we’re going to go try to win a state championship.”
Windsor controlled the first half, taking the 1-0 lead in the sixth minute on a penalty kick. After Meg Zimmerman was tripped in the box, Adalyn Vergara ripped her shot to the right of Raptors goalkeeper Kaeyla Noble.
Silver Creek (16-1-2), which was held without a shot on goal in the first, regained the momentum early in the second half. Alexa Karsel pushed a shot through the Windsor defense in the opening minutes to tie the game at 1-1.
“In previous years, that momentum, you have to have experience. You have to have been there before,” Garcia said. “I think our seniors realized ‘we’re OK.’”
Windsor went back up midway through the second half. Chaynee Kingsbury took the ball up the right sideline and sent a cross to the left. A trailing Noble was caught out of position and couldn’t recover in time, and Kopren sent a shot just inside the left post for the go-ahead goal.
“It was a perfect ball. I can’t believe it,” Kopren said. “It was perfect for me to play.”
The two teams had played to a 2-2 tie back on March 20, and Silver Creek nearly matched that score in the final minute. With 30 seconds remaining, Kate Eggen fired a long ball on goal, but keeper Michaela Moran made a leaping tip that pushed the ball off the crossbar. The ball fell back into play and was cleared before Silver Creek could get a second chance.
Now Windsor gets its first opportunity to play at DSG, though the Wizards aren’t about to be content with just making it to the final game of the season.
“We’re not getting there for nothing. We’re going to go there and we’re going to give (Valor Christian) everything we’ve got,” Garcia said. “We want to win.”
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(2) Valor Christian 2, (6) Glenwood Springs 1
Kaleigh Kreimeyer has been a postseason wonder for Valor Christian.
The Eagles sophomore only scored two regular-season goals, but found the back of the net four times in the team’s first three 4A state playoff games. On Saturday, Kreimeyer struck again, breaking a scoreless tie with in the 27th minute.
That score held up as second-seeded Valor Christian defeated Glenwood Springs 2-1 in the 4A state semifinals at Legacy Stadium.
Valor (12-3-3) advanced to Wednesday’s championship game and will face top-seeded Windsor for the 4A state championship. It marks the second title-game appearance in three seasons for the Eagles, who haven’t won a state championship since 2011.
Coming off a 1-0 victory over Jeffco League rival Evergreen last Wednesday – a game in which Kreimeyer scored the only goal – the Eagles controlled the tempo in the first half against the Demons (16-3). With less than 14 minutes remaining in the first half, Kreimeyer stole the ball in the right corner and somehow slipped a shot between Glenwood Springs goalkeeper Hannah Juul and the right post.
Ryan Winningham added an insurance goal in the 50th minute, launching a long ball that just eluded a diving Juul inside the left post.
Glenwood Springs put its first shot on goal in the 69th minute and made it count. Natalya Taylor sent in a bouncing ball that eluded Valor keeper Alexandra Daws. The Demons were a player down after leading scorer Eryn Peterson received a red card with a little more than 23 minutes remaining.
AURORA — Colorado Academy and Glenwood Springs are set to add varsity hockey programs for the 2018-19 season, following a vote of approval from the sport’s committee on Friday.
It will bring the total number of varsity hockey teams to 36 next season. Additionally, Sargent is mulling over whether to add a junior varsity program.
The two schools presented their intention to begin competition next season. Colorado Academy started its program with a JV schedule this season.
“We’re committed,” said Colorado Academy athletic director Bill Hall.
The team is expected to have 30 players. If there are enough players, CA would continue to have a JV team in addition to the varsity team.
Colorado Academy plans to play home games at Foothills Ice Arena.
This will be Glenwood Springs’ first foray into CHSAA competition, though Yampah Mountain High School in the area has fielded a JV program the past three seasons. (Yampah Mountain is set to discontinue that program next season.)
“The numbers we have in our youth hockey program in Glenwood, they’re substantial,” said Glenwood Springs athletic director Craig Denney.
Glenwood expects to have between 40 and 45 players in its program, allowing them to have both varsity and JV teams.
The team will practice in Glenwood Springs, but because that’s a covered outdoor rink, they will play their home games in Eagle. The team would be allowed to play one outdoor game at their rink in Glenwood.
CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green noted the growth in the sport, saying, “It’s almost like there’s a resurgence of ice hockey. We were dropping programs at one point.”
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Conferences realignment recommendation
The committee recommended the following league alignment for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. It is a change from the current four-conference alignment to six conferences of six teams.
Metro 1
Regis Jesuit
Mountain Vista
Castle View
Cherry Creek
Valor Christian
Chaparral
Northern
Ralston Valley
Fort Collins
Resurrection Christian
Monarch
Standley Lake
Dakota Ridge
Western Slope
Aspen
Steamboat Springs
Summit
Glenwood Springs
Battle Mountain
Crested Butte
Metro 2
Heritage
Columbine
Mullen
Chatfield
Kent Denver
Denver East
Southern 1
Rampart
Palmer
Coronado
Woodland Park
Liberty
Doherty
Southern 2
Air Academy
Pine Creek
Cheyenne Mountain
Colorado Academy
Pueblo County
Lewis-Palmer
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Notables
There was some talk about a potential split into two classifications for the sport. Blanford-Green addressed the topic during the meeting: “We are probably at capacity for adding another male gender championship,” she said, noting Title IX implications. “The Board is going to be leery of adding another championship, especially if it’s going to take us out of equity. So the potential for expanding, unless there’s a lot of growth in this sport, is going to be hard to do.”
The committee voted to support an increase to a 23-game season from the current 19. That change would have to be proposed to the Legislative Council by a league.
The 2017 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues, and then a vote of head coaches across the state.
Players were placed onto the first-team, second-team and honorable mention based upon the number of votes they received. In 5A-1A, spots were reserved for linemen and one kicker/punter, while 8-man reserved spots for linemen.
CHSAA does not determine who makes or doesn’t make the team; they are created entirely from the results of the coaches’ vote.
