COLORADO SPRINGS – Kali Knight waited for the right time to strike for the first time.
The Forge Christian junior threw the ball in to Emily Gilbert, who slid the ball right back in Knight’s direction. The junior midfielder, who had no goals and just two assists to her name all season, booted a high ball in the direction of the net, where it got above the outstretched hands of Buena Vista keeper Lilly Lazaruis.
That led to the 2-0 win for the Fury in the Class 2A girls soccer state title game. It’s the fourth championship in school history, and the first since the Fury (then Faith Christian) beat St. Mary’s 2-1 in 2008.
“I just got the pass back and kind of put my leg out,” Knight said. “I was trying to aim for the net and get a curve. But that’s ok, I got the goal.
While she and her teammates on the field celebrated immediately, it took the Forge Christian bench a second to realize exactly what had happen.
Kali Knight. (Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
“I thought it was a cross,” coach Nick Arter said. “Then I looked and saw the ball in the back of the net.”
Once reality set in, the Fury (16-2-1 overall) settled into their offensive set and seemed a little more comfortable in building their attack.
They scored their second goal in the 74th minute as Grayson Taylor fired a corner kick toward the front of the frame where Bella Brodbeck was in the right spot to head it in. A two-goal lead with six minutes to go was academic.
The Fury survived a bit of a lethargic first half where neither team could build a genuine scoring opportunity. Things only slowed down more at halftime when lightning forced the players back in the locker room where the tension and nerves built back up.
“You just have to push through it,” Knight said. “I just kept telling myself you have to keep going.”
It was that mindset that put her in the right spot about 25 yards away from the net.
And of all the players that could’ve scored to put the Fury up, After couldn’t hold back his joy that it was Knight connecting on the game-winner.
“She’s been with us for three years and hadn’t scored all year,” he said. “She’s just been in a little bit of a slump and a little down on herself. She didn’t quit all year. Then you pull that shot off in the last few minutes of a final match? Brilliant.”
The Fury won three 3A titles in a seven-year span as Faith Christian in the 2000’s, but have been in a championship drought since. But the drought is over.
Forge Christian is a championship team once again.
