Rocky Mountain girls soccer season ends in quarterfinal upset loss to Fairview

LAKEWOOD — The Colorado Class 5A girls soccer playoffs have been defined by upsets so far.

That continued in Monday night’s quarterfinals, and it was 11th-seeded Rocky Mountain‘s turn to get bit by the upset bug.

No. 14 Fairview scored a pair of early goals and rode a ridiculously stingy defense from there, shutting out the Lobos 2-0 at Trailblazer Stadium to reach the 5A semifinals.

“It’s tough, because we dug ourselves a hole in the first part of the game and it’s just hard to get out of it,” said Rocky Mountain head coach Shane Wagner.

Especially against this specific opponent.

Fairview entered the game having allowed just six goals in 17 matches this season, including five consecutive shutouts.

The defense lived up to its billing, tallying a sixth straight clean sheet after getting an early cushion thanks to the Knights’ offensive star.

Fairview’s Claire Silverman had scored 17 goals this season and she was the engine again. The senior earned a penalty kick about 15 minutes in and cashed it in for a 1-0 lead.

Barely five minutes later, a loose ball found her after a scrum in the box and she booted it home for the final margin.

“Just a very fun, high-caliber player who makes things happen for them,” Wagner said. “We knew she was capable of that.”

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From there, Rocky Mountain was scrambling to get back in the game. But a weathered turf field still slick from rain — four players went down with injuries after hitting the turf — made scoring even more challenging.

Despite that, Lobos’ offensive threats like Jace Holley, Addison Osilka and Josephine Demaret nearly punched a couple goals in down the stretch.

The Knights now head to the semifinals (Thursday at University of Denver) and will face No. 10 ThunderRidge, who upset No. 2 Broomfield 1-0 on the same field minutes earlier.

That’s been the pattern in this year’s 5A bracket.

No. 1 Fossil Ridge lost at home to No. 17 Rock Canyon, now a semifinalist. Rocky upset No. 6 Rampart in the second round. And Fairview shut out No. 3 Legacy to reach the quarters in the first place.

No. 4 Heritage is the only top-eight seed remaining among the four 5A semifinalists.

Rocky was just the latest upset victim, though Fairview is playing as well as any team in the state right now.

“It’s the same thing with other seeds getting knocked out early,” Wagner said. “It’s really just a number at this level. We knew they’d come out strong with that extra underdog fire.”

For the Lobos, it was another deep run that they hope will ultimately pay dividends for an emerging group of underclassmen.

This was Rocky’s fourth trip to at least the quarterfinals in the past five seasons. A roster that only featured three seniors will return junior leaders like Holley, Osilka and Nikki Gudemann next season.

“Getting to the quarters with three seniors is fantastic and we have a future to be excited about,” Wagner said.

“It’s a bummer to end like this, but I couldn’t be prouder of this group. They fought like they always do, and that’s what Rocky soccer is all about.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado soccer: Fairview upsets Rocky Mountain in 5A quarterfinals