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Coal Ridge, Grand Valley, Roaring Fork girls reach 3A state soccer playoffs; Glenwood Springs left out of 4A postseason

Jon Mitchell
Post Independent Sports Editor

PEACH VALLEY — Micah Herron is happy with where his Coal Ridge High School girls soccer team landed in the Class 3A State Championships. He also knows, however, that the Titans aren’t just happy to be here.

“I’m pretty content with where we landed,” said Herron, whose team will be the No. 3 seed in the 32-team tournament bracket, which begins play on Friday. “This sets us up pretty nicely to be successful and we’re thankful for the opportunity. But right now, it’s a matter of us staying motivated and not staying content with what we’ve done.”

Coal Ridge (14-1-0 overall), which won the Class 3A Western Slope League title, will host one of eight four-team regional tournaments when the postseason begins on Friday. The Titans will open against 30th-seeded Middle Park, with the winner playing either No. 14 Telluride or No. 19 Faith Christian on Saturday for a spot in the state quarterfinals.



The Titans will be one of three teams from the 3A WSL who will play first-round playoff games on Friday. The seedings of all high school soccer playoff brackets were announced Sunday by the Colorado High School Activities Association.

Grand Valley (12-2-1), the No. 11 seed, will play No. 22 Denver Science and Technology on Friday at Kent Denver High School. That winner will play Saturday against either No. 27 Alamosa or the No. 6 Sun Devils in a second-round matchup on Friday.



The Cardinals are making their first trip to the postseason in program history, and coach Eric Sarno admits that he “would have been happy with a No. 32 seed!” But, like the Titans, Grand Valley doesn’t want to be first-round fodder.

“This is great for a first-ever playoff spot,” Sarno said. “We’re used to being the underdog, and this almost kind of makes us a favorite. That’s really unfamiliar for us. But I like where we are to start off. We’re in a good spot.”

Also earning a postseason spot was Roaring Fork (12-2-1), which drew the tournament’s No. 15 seed. The Rams will play Friday against No. 18 Front Range Christian, with that winner playing Saturday against either No. 31 Florence or the host school, No. 2 Peak to Peak.

Left out of the Class 4A State Championships bracket was Glenwood Springs (10-5-0), which still has the best overall record among the teams in the league. But the Demons were beset by injuries and health issues at the end of the year. Three consecutive losses to end the season, including a 3-2 loss to Steamboat Springs in the third-place match of the league tournament, also made a difference in the Demons not being chosen for the 32-team tournament.

Start times of matches involving Coal Ridge, Roaring Fork and Grand Valley on Friday will be announced later this week.

jmitchell@postindependent.com


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