Victory For Northfield
Nighthawks Take Home School’s First State Soccer Title
Story and Photos by Reid Neureiter
For the GPHN
The Northfield Nighthawks captured the school’s first state soccer title on Nov. 12 with a 1-0 victory over Mullen High at Colorado Springs’ Weidner Field.
The win was the capstone for boys soccer programs throughout Denver Public Schools, with several teams progressing deep into the 2021 Colorado state playoffs. In the first round of the big school 5A playoffs, 15th-seeded Denver East Angels beat 18th-seeded Lakewood, and then shocked No. 2 seed Valor Christian by the score of 1-0 on the Eagles home turf to advance to the Elite Eight. The Angels’ season ended there, with a 1-0 loss to Legacy High at North Stadium.
Legacy then fell to Grandview in the semifinals and Grandview took home the 5A title with a 3-1 victory over Fossil Ridge on Nov. 13. East finished its season with an 11-4-3 record.
In the 4A playoffs, Denver Public Schools were guaranteed a state finalist as the No. 4 seed North Vikings were pitted against undefeated and top-seeded Northfield Nighthawks in the Nov. 10 semifinal match at Legacy Stadium in Aurora. The close match was decided by a single freekick, with Northfield senior forward Max Garfield delivering a looping, curving shot from 22 yards out around the Viking wall and off the bottom of the crossbar for the match’s only goal. The Nighthawks, who had all dyed their hair an identical bleached orange-blond for the playoff run, successfully defended that single goal lead against North’s determined attack.
Two days later, in the 4A championship game against No. 2-seeded Mullen High, Northfield senior forward Moises Inda scored a near identical freekick, from the same distance as Garfield’s semi-final game-winner, also smashing the ball off the Mullen crossbar for the only goal of the final.
Northfield ended its season with a perfect 20-0 record (including victories over the larger Class 5A East High and South High). The school finished as the MaxPreps No. 1 ranked high school boys team in Colorado across all divisions — a remarkable achievement for a varsity program that has been in existence for only four years.