The quest for girls soccer state championships starts on Tuesday

It’s postseason time in girls soccer.

The 32-team Class 5A-3A brackets begin Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The 24-team 2A bracket starts on Wednesday.

Let’s take a quick peek into each classification in this week’s look-in on girls soccer.

Class 5A

Top five: Mountain Vista (11-1-2), Cherry Creek (11-1-3), Pine Creek (11-1-1), Ralston Valley (10-2-3), Fossil Ridge (10-1-4).

The full 5A girls soccer tournament bracket

The Golden Eagles are the top-ranked team in the bracket despite finishing second to Rock Canyon in the 5A/4A Continental League. It was those teams who met last year in the 5A title game, with the Golden Eagles going on to win the crown, 1-0. Then in March, the Jaguars beat Mountain Vista, which ultimately gave them the league tiebreaker.

The Golden Eagles draw No. 32 Poudre in the opening round, while No. 7 Rock Canyon is home against No. 26 Grandview.

At No. 2, Cherry Creek, winner of the 5A/4A Centennial League, gets Liberty in Round 1. The Bruins were unbeaten up to their second-to-last game of the season, when they lost to No. 8 Valor Christian, 3-1.

No. 3 Pine Creek opens against Legend after its goals leader, Isla Eaton, who has 19 on the year, scored both times in its win over Rampart on Friday to clinch the Colorado Springs Metro League title. The Eagles, who open at home against the No. 30 Titans, won their last nine games.

No. 4 Ralston Valley took the 5A Jefferson County League and faces No. 29 Fort Collins in the opening round. No. 5 Fossil Ridge, led by Santana Sabus’ 21 goals this spring, gets No. 28 Arvada West.

Teams outside the top five to watch: No. 8 Valor Christian had some of the best late-season wins, beating both No. 2 Cherry Creek and No. 4 Ralston Valley at the end of last month.

No. 9 Boulder (12-1-2) was briefly No. 1 in the state earlier this season, but it has steadily fallen in the rankings due to its weaker schedule in the 5A/4A Rocky Mountain League, which it won.

No. 10 Broomfield (9-4-2) is hitting on all cylinders with the return of sophomore star Marin Kotschau, who missed the team’s loss to No. 17 Fairview on April 17 because she was called up to USA’s under-age-16 squad. In Round 1, it faces No. 23 ThunderRidge, the team that beat the Eagles in the 2023 postseason en route to the Grizzlies’ first state title since 2002.

Class 4A

Top five: Evergreen (12-1-2), Green Mountain (13-0-2), Windsor (12-3), Lutheran (10-3-1), Durango (12-3).

The full 4A girls soccer tournament bracket

Defending champ Evergreen nabbed the 1-seed after winning the 4A/3A Jefferson County League. It beat Lutheran, which is the fourth seed, in the 2024 finals.

The Cougars’ lone loss of the season came to 5A No. 4 Ralston Valley on March 31. Behind junior Gianna Weiner, who has 16 goals and 14 assists this season, they’ve won 10 in a row since then. They face No. 32 Palisade in the opening round.

Green Mountain, which tied Evergreen on March 13, is No. 2. The Rams have yet to lose a game this season (they tied No. 20 D’Evelyn on April 14). They’re led by senior Alyssa Hamilton, who leads the classification in goals (30) and points (71).

No. 3 Windsor finished second in the 5A/4A Northern League to 5A No. 5 Fossil Ridge. After falling to the Sabercats 2-1 on April 8, the Wizards have won seven straight.

No. 4 Lutheran won the 4A Pikes Peak League. The Lions’ goals leader, junior Abby Megill, has scored six of her 10 goals this season over the last three weeks.

No. 5 Durango, winners of the 5A/4A Southwestern League, have won 12 in a row since losing to 5A No. 2 Cherry Creek, No. 4 Ralston Valley and 3A No. 3 Delta to open its season.

Teams outside the top five to watch: No. 6 Mead has won 10 straight. The Mavericks’ only two losses on the year came to 5A No. 13 Legacy and No. 17 Fairview.

No. 11 Air Academy won three straight before finishing the season with a loss to No. 1 Evergreen. The Kadets finished second in a very deep 4A Pikes Peak League, which includes postseason teams in No. 4 Lutheran, No. 9 Palmer Ridge, No. 16 Cheyenne Mountain and No. 18 Lewis-Palmer.

No. 12 Riverdale Ridge finished second in the 5A/4A Rocky Mountain League to 5A No. 9 Boulder. The Ravens’ three losses this spring came against the Panthers as well as 4A No. 2 Green Mountain and No. 3 Windsor.

Class 3A

Top five: Colorado Academy (12-1-2), Kent Denver (13-2), Delta (15-0), Prospect Ridge Academy (12-3), Jefferson Academy (10-5).

The full 3A girls soccer tournament bracket

Four of the top five teams are out of the 3A/2A Metro League. Nothing unusual there — the 3A state champ has come out of the league every year since 2012.

No. 1 Colorado Academy, the defending champ, beat No. 2 Kent Denver, 5-4, on April 19 to decide the league champ and 3A’s No. 1 seed. Junior Lyla Kocher leads the Mustangs with 21 goals.

The second-ranked Sun Devils are led by sophomore KyKy O’Connor, who has 24 goals and 14 assists. They beat No. 4 Prospect Ridge Academy and No. 5 Jefferson Academy over the last two weeks of the regular season.

No. 4 PRA was 3A’s No. 1 team for a few weeks up until it lost three straight in late-April — to Kent Denver, JA and CA. The Miners bounced back, though, ending their regular season with a 3-2 win over 2A No. 1 Denver Christian. Kayah Robbins scored twice in it, while Madison Skinner added her team-leading 15th goal of the year.

No. 5 Jefferson Academy, which lost to CA in the 3A title game a year ago, beat PRA by one this season, and lost to both CA and KD by one. Seniors Elsa Nygren and Brianna Kozlowski lead the team with 15 goals apiece.

The only non-Metro League team in the top five is No. 3 Delta, which went undefeated behind Jessie Black’s 45 goals this season, which is tops in the state and 28th in the country.

Teams outside the top five to watch: No. 7 The Classical Academy had a strong finish to the season. Over their last four games, the Titans beat 4A No. 4 Lutheran and tied No. 13 Mullen. They also lost to No. 1 Evergreen by just one, 1-0.

No. 11 Timnath also had an impressive end that included a 9-0 win over 4A No. 28 Mountain View on April 24. It tied No. 15 Thompson Valley two days prior to that.

No. 14 Montezuma-Cortez hasn’t lost since April 4.

Class 2A

Top five: Denver Christian (9-5-1), Buena Vista (10-1-3), Colorado Springs Christian (10-2-2), Crested Butte (8-4-3), Frontier Academy (13-2).

The full 2A girls soccer tournament bracket

The top eight seeds in the classification have a first-round bye. The second round is slated for Saturday.

At No. 1, Denver Christian finished fifth in a stacked 3A/2A Metro League, behind only the four teams in the top five of 4A. Sophomore Lyla Scullion leads the Thunder with 20 goals and nine assists.

No. 3 Colorado Spring Christian won the 2A Tri-Peaks League, and though the Lions beat Buena Vista, 2-1 on April 3, they’re a spot behind the No. 2 Demons. Ella Baker has 19 goals for CSCS. Mae Blazer has 15 for Buena Vista.

At No. 4, Crested Butte won the 2A Intermountain League. To end its regular season, it tied CSCS before losing to 4A No. 21 Montrose.

Frontier Academy is fifth. The Wolverines haven’t allowed a goal in their last seven games. This season, they’ve been led by junior Emily Gesick, who has scored 21 times.

Defending champion Flatirons Academy comes in as the No. 8 seed and will have to get through a potential quarterfinal game with Denver Christian for a chance to go back-to-back.

Interesting first-round matchups: No. 12 Dawson vs. No. 21 James Irwin features prolific scorers in Mustangs senior Kanoe Bihag (27 goals this season) and Jaguars freshman Mia Busby (29).

No. 13 Gilpin County vs. No. 20 Fountain Valley will be their second meetup of the month. On May 1, the Danes beat GC, 2-1, behind Olivia D’Ambrosia’s team-leading 18th goal of the spring.