BOULDER — The look in Stone Streeter’s eyes told you everything you needed to know about the intensity of the Fairview-Boulder rivalry.
Mere moments after the junior scored the game winning goal in a 2-1 overtime victory over the No. 1 Panthers at Recht Field, the Fairview midfielder had tears in his eyes.
“We lost to Boulder last year in overtime and I wasn’t going to let it happen again,” said Streeter, who scored his first goal of the season.
It was the culmination of a match that lived up to the billing. With the win, Fairview — ranked No. 8 in the latest CHSAANow.com poll — improves to 6-2-1 overall and more importantly 3-1-1 in the uber competitive Front Range League. Boulder suffered its first setback since the state title game last season against Broomfield, dropping to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the league.
After a scoreless first 40 minutes, it was the Knights that opened the scoring in the second half. Utilizing the sprinter speed of senior Alex Weseman down the right side of the field against Panthers defender Simon Julian, Weseman created some space for himself at the top of the 18-yard box and was able to beat Boulder goalie Miguel Alaniz.
But the adrenaline high quickly wore off. The Panthers were awarded a penalty kick, playing aggressively inside the Knights penalty area and it was Streeter that was whistled for the infraction.
Senior Brian Castruita easily finished from the penalty spot and the game was back to square in the 46th minute.
To Fairview’s credit, the Knights didn’t seem to let the Castruita equalizer faze them. Coach Jeff Frykholm’s squad stayed tight defensively and forced the issue up front when the game permitted.
“In this game, nobody is going to back down. It is such a charged emotional game,” Frykholm said. “We could have folded, especially against this program, to give up a PK, but they really almost turned it around immediately and just kept sustained pressure.
“The thing I’m most proud about is the things we talked about at halftime, they executed. And the adjustments we made going into overtime, they executed. So it is the sign of a team that is starting to mature a little bit.”
It was Weseman, whom Boulder coach Hardy Kalisher praised for his outstanding effort on Thursday night, that eventually set up the winner. Once again working down the right side of the field, he fed a pass from Andre Miller, who in turn set up Streeter for the game-winner.
“I gave up a hand ball in the box,” Steeter said. “And I wasn’t going to let my team down again.”
Boulder will have to have a short memory. The Panthers will try and bounce back on Tuesday night at Broomfield in a state title game rematch.
“It’s good to get the opportunity to respond to this,” Kalisher said. “I’ve had teams that go 13-0 and they get that loss at the end of the season and it’s like great, we got that before the playoffs.
“But we are a long way from playoffs. We have played a bunch of tight games and tonight we were not on the winning side of a tight game.”
Jon Yunt: yuntj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/JonEYunt
Fairview 2, Boulder 1
At Recht Field
Fairview (6-2-1, 3-1-1)
0
1
1
—
2
Boulder (8-1, 4-1)
0
1
0
—
1
Goals (assists) —
Fairview: Alex Weseman (unasissted), 43rd minute; Boulder: Brian Castruita (penalty kick), 46th; Fairview: Stone Streeter (Andre Miller), 86th.
Goalies (Min-Goals allowed-Saves) —
Fairview: Danny Richards (85-1-3); Boulder: Miguel Alaniz (85-2-4).
