'Cruel' defeat: Windsor soccer dominates title game, but trophy is snatched away on penalties

COMMERCE CITY — The beautiful game played near perfection.

Crisp passing, torrid pressing defense.

Chance after chance created.

But nothing on the scoreboard.

The No. 1-seeded Windsor High School girls soccer team suppressed and dominated No. 7 Northfield in the Class 4A title game Tuesday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Especially in the second half, waves of attacks crashed on Northfield. But nothing hit the net. A scramble in front led to a shot off the post. A long shot off the crossbar. Corners off headers saved or flicked just wide.

Into overtime. More of the same. Northfield's goalkeeper pulled out of position only for a defender to make a block off the line on Windsor's shot.

Still, nothing.

Then, penalties with the score incredibly still 0-0 after 110 minutes of play.

Then, the Wizards lost in the cruelest way. Windsor missed one penalty kick off the bar and had the fifth attempt saved as Northfield won with a 4-3 edge.

"I just told our team that the score doesn’t reflect it but I really felt that we played a perfect game," Windsor coach Mike Lordemann said after the runner-up finish. "This is a sport that is cruel. Not always does the score of the game reflect how well we played."

This was arguably Windsor’s best performance of the season, outside of the finishing in front of net. A 3-0 or 4-0 scoreline wouldn’t have felt out of line with the game flow.

The beautiful game punished Windsor with cruelty as Northfield completed a near-perfect season with a 19-0-1 record.

But it was a beautifully played game, with a raucous crowd on both sides in the pro stadium. And despite the end, a beautiful season for Windsor.

The Wizards finish 17-3 with this game (again, cruelly) the only loss to a 4A opponent. The other two were to top-10 5A teams. Windsor won its league, earned the No. 1 seed and dominated its class all year (the Wizards outscored 4A opponents 68-5 this season).

All of that and more is why senior star Carty Kingsbury huddled her team one final time after receiving the silver trophy. She smiled, clapped and encouraged her teammates.

"I just wouldn’t choose any other team to be with. Whether we lose or we win, we played our hearts out tonight and I have no regrets," Kingsbury said. "Whether we win or we lose, it doesn’t define us and we love each other through it."

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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado soccer: Northfield beats Windsor in 4A championship game