LAKEWOOD – As
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) standout
Lizzy Raben lined up for a penalty kick, she noticed a small detail that proved to be the difference for her and the Bruins.
Although it went against her nature, the junior captain used that to her advantage to send home the game-winner in a 1-0 victory against
Columbine (Littleton) on Tuesday in the Class 5A state quarterfinals at Lakewood Memorial Stadium.
On the penalty kick, Columbine goalkeeper
Katelyn Phiilips went right, while Raben uncharacteristically pushed her shot to the left to tally the game's only goal. It was only the ninth goal allowed all season by the Rebels.
Cherry Creek goalie Alex Kahalley.
File photo by Ray Chen
The shot, which came with 6 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the first half, had been awarded after Cherry Creek's
Essence LaNeir was taken down just inside the box.
"I don't ever switch my side," said Raben, who had been on duty in Guatemala with the Under-17 National Team from May 2-12 and just returned to Colorado on Sunday. "I normally go right, but the keeper cheated a little bit to the right, so I switched my side (this time)."
The Bruins made it stand up, despite a spirited effort by the fourth-seeded Rebels in the second half. Columbine (16-2-0) managed only one shot on goal before intermission, but peppered six shots at Bruins keeper
Alex Kahalley in the second half.
Kahalley denied two prime opportunities each by
Rylie O'Keefe and
Amanda Giddens, and also had to slide over late to grab a header by
Ashley Morris that came off a corner kick with about 12 minutes remaining.
Raben and physical midfielder
Sara Feder also helped slow the Columbine charge late. Cherry Creek has posted a shutout in each of its three playoff games.
"Even though I had to stop a few balls, I thought my back line was there for me every single play," Kahalley said. "We were filled with energy, and my back line stayed strong and so did my mids. There were a couple of tense moments, but we got through it."
The fifth-seeded Bruins (13-4-1) will meet No. 9
Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch) (13-3-2) at Englewood High School on Saturday (5 pm) in the semifinals.
The classification will crown a new champion, as top-seeded Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) was eliminated on penalty kicks by Rock Canyon after the teams couldn't break a 1-1 stalemate.
Also, in the other quarterfinals,
Fort Collins (13-4-1) blitzed Front Range League rival Legacy (Broomfield) 4-2, while 15th-seeded
Fairview (Boulder) used a goal by
Berkley Gamble in the 77th minute to blank Heritage (Littleton) 1-0. Fairview (11-5-2) and Fort Collins will meet at 7:30 pm Saturday at Englewood.
MaxPreps Colorado Class 5A Girls State Soccer Brackets
