COLORADO SPRINGS -- For almost 55 minutes, both Kent Denver and Steamboat Springs struggled to manufacture scoring opportunities out of whatever offensive continuity both teams could sustain. A combination of nerves when brief windows of opportunity did emerge and solid, physical defense by both teams kept the ball mostly in the middle of the field and the scoreboard stuck on zeros deep into the second half of play.

That all changed, however, in the shade in front of the south goal just short of the midway point of the second half. Kent Denver senior and team captain Kobe Taih manufactured a single high-grade opportunity by worming his way between defenders and staking out a patch of open turf just a handful of meters in front of the mouth of the Steamboat net at the 25:47 point of the second half. In that moment, the ball came flying his direction from the southwest corner of the field.

Such chances are rare when you're deep into the state tournament bracket and playing against one of the top defenses in the state.

Taih seized the opportunity, "I know how to sneak my way through. I saw the ball, and I just knew it was going in. I knew it was going in the back of the net and started celebrating before it even went in." 

It was the only score in Kent Denver's 1-0 victory for the 3A boys soccer state championship.

Kent Denver head coach Jeb Brovsky lauded Taih's ability to find the open space in the Sailor defense, "He knows how to get open, and being open meant he was able to put the ball into the net."

Almost as soon as the ball was in the back of the net, Taih was making a beeline for the southwest corner of Weidner Field where his teammates were already swarming for a dogpile of a celebration. "I kind of got run over, that doesn't usually happen," he explained with a wink.

And teammates may be easily forgiven for a bit of extra exuberance in the wake of a goal that busts open a scoreless tie in the state championship contest.

As important as the game winning goal was to the final outcome, there was also the matter of Kent Denver's stonewalling defense that kept Steamboat from posting any scores of their own.

Sun Devil keeper Max Baker explained: "Best back line in the state. It's a mixture of knowing what to expect coming into the game—the scouting report, the hours we spend looking at film and talking to our coach, and then trusting the chemistry we've built over the season."

That chemistry produced a day of zero lapses, including when Steamboat desperately needed lapses to preserve its waning hopes of winning a first-ever boys state soccer title for the school.

For Brovsky, the win was a culmination of a season of progression, a season that saw the Sun Devils drop their first two games before going on the run that would end up claiming the school's sixth state title (first since 2019). "Our seed didn't matter. We knew what we needed to do. It would have been fine if we came in as the 32 seed, but the number 4 seed was perfect for us."

Twelve Kent Denver seniors ended their high school careers on a gorgeous November day in the best possible way.