Unrelenting Bear Creek tops pesky Fairview in shootout

By Paul Willis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 28, 2008 at 11:32 p.m.

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Nothing has gone according to script in the Class 5A boys soccer playoffs, so maybe what Bear Creek pulled Tuesday night made perfect sense.

The bracket-busting Bears wiped out three Fairview leads at Lakewood Memorial Field before a dramatic shootout victory yielded an improbable 4-3 win and a trip to the state semifinals.

Kegan Grimes drilled the final kick of the shootout, giving the Bears a 3-2 advantage in the tiebreaker.

"Just a lot of deep breaths," Grimes said of his approach. "Shaking the arms out, shaking the legs out, focusing on my basic routine like I always do."

The Bears' story is anything but routine. The 20th seed already had posted tournament upsets against 13th-seeded Cherry Creek and No. 4 Arapahoe. Then Tuesday, the Bears erased Fairview leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before triumphing against the 21st-seeded Knights, who were attempting to construct their own late-season renaissance.

Bear Creek (11-5-2) had been regarded as a fringe contender in the regular season but has transformed in the playoffs.

"It was a mental change," said Bears midfielder Wesley Hutchings, whose goal in the 54th minute tied the score 3-3. "Everyone had doubts about it because we always lose in the first round. This time, everyone's wanted it more . . . "

The Bears, who will play Denver East on Saturday, seem to have as good a chance as anyone with the top seven seeds eliminated.

Things began crazily as Fairview led 3-2 at halftime. Darragh O'Neill's goal with 17 seconds remaining gave the Knights (10-5-3) the advantage, but Hutchings' equalizer early in the second half was the last true goal.

"We got a couple good looks at the goal in the overtime period but didn't get it into the back of the net," Fairview coach Stan Jozwiak said. "You don't sit back and wait for penalty kicks."

Bear Creek didn't mind waiting for the shootout, although it's a habit the Bears hope to break.

"Very stressful," Hutchings said. "It's like an anxiety attack the entire time."

Fairview3 0 0 0 0 - 3

Bear Creek2 1 0 0 0 - 4

BEAR CREEK WON SHOOTOUT 3-2

Scoring - F, Alex Dickerson (unassisted), second. B, Salman Bahurmoz (Cameron Wood), 20th. F, Aaron de la Cruz (Dickerson), 35th. B, B.J. Heffernan (Kegan Grimes), 36th. F, Darragh O'Neill (Tim Cowley), 40th. B, Wesley Hutchings (Taylor Neve), 54th. Shootout - F (De la Cruz G, Wes Trevino NG, Dickerson G, Corey Westfall NG, O'Neill NG). B (Wood G, Hutchings NG, Heffernan G, Bahurmoz NG, Grimes G).

Shots - F 6-4-3-1 - 14. B 10-3-5-1 - 19. Saves - F (Louis Lish) 4-2-3-1 - 10. B Tyler Ruder 0-2-2-1 - 5. Corner kicks - F 0-1-0-1 - 2. B 3-0-1-1 - 5. Yellow cards - B, Javier Rubio (66th).

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