Fairview girls soccer upsets No. 1 Cherry Creek on PKs in 5A tournament

GREENWOOD VILLAGE — In the second round of the Class 5A girls soccer state tournament, No. 16 Fairview took down No. 1 Cherry Creek 1-1, 5-4 in penalties.

In a nail biter of a finish, it was the save of freshman goalkeeper Hayden Velds that earned the Knights the victory. Cherry Creek had second shot in the kicks, and with pressure early on after a Cherry Creek miss, it seemed like Fairview was at the advantage throughout the shots.

Momentum in this game seemed to shift in the regulation halftime, and Fairview entered on the pitch in the second half with a fire. Consistently good shots from Tea Smith put Cherry Creek on its heels. Her ability to deliver quality strikes from range surprised Cherry Creek and eliminated the Bruins offensive attacks.

Velds had a huge performance for the Knights. Countless saves kept Creek out of the net and let the Knights offense go to work.

“I (saw) the way she opened her hips when she went back and used that to decide where I was going to go, then I went for it because that is all you can really do,” she said.

Velds, beaming with joy, knew as soon as she saved it they won.

“I think we are going to get rolling,” she said. “Fairview is coming.”

The Knights will now take on Broomfield in the quarterfinals.