Opportunity was knocking hard on Faith Christian's door Thursday night at Englewood Stadium. It just took a while for the Eagles' girls soccer team to let it in.

But so many missed opportunities in the first half were forgotten in the second, as Faith Christian scored three times to beat Peak to Peak 3-0 in a Class 3A state semifinal.

"We were really nervous," said Faith's Athena Lopez, who had a goal and an assist to lead the Eagles into Saturday's state title game. "But we usually get our goals in the second half. We really worked for this."

Scoring chances were plentiful for the Eagles in the first half, but Faith Christian couldn't convert despite having a 6-1 shots-on- goal advantage.

But Lopez's persistence paid off early in the second half. After she was denied again on a shot in the opening minutes, she took a pass from Kate Fonte in front of the Pumas' net, turned on a defender and slipped a shot to the far post to give the top-seeded Eagles a 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute.

"It was a sense of relief and it pumped us up," said Lopez, who played point guard on the Eagles' state runner-up basketball team. "We worked harder after that."

Peak to Peak's best chance to score came in the 52nd minute, when Kari Taylor launched a dangerous shot that Faith keeper Shelby Bartusek had trouble with. The ball bounced out of her arms and nearly rolled into the corner of the net.

"I think we had them for three quarters of the game," Taylor said. "But we didn't get to the balls we should have been getting to and we weren't physical enough."

Faith scored again on the fourth-seeded Pumas (11-4-2) with an eye-pleasing play between Lopez and midfielder Kelsey McCaslin in the 63rd minute. Lopez's crossing pass caught McCaslin in stride on the way to the goal, and the sophomore placed a smooth shot into the corner of the Pumas' net.

"In the first half, we were trying to take it by ourselves more," McCaslin said. "But in the second half, we were better at connecting our passes."

Faith's last score came on a freshman-to-freshman connection, with Ariane Lukens setting up Shelby Ward for a goal in the 74th minute.

The Eagles beat Peak to Peak 5-1 earlier in the season, and Lopez thought that might have contributed to the Eagles' slow start.

"We came in maybe with the attitude that we had already beaten them once, so we'll beat them again," she said. "But I think we underestimated them and they came out harder than we thought."

Peak to Peak0 0 - 0

Faith Christian0 3 - 3

Goals - F, Athena Lopez (Kate Fonte) 43:47, Kelsey McCaslin (Lopez) 63:54, Shelby Ward (Ariane Lukens) 73:30.

Shots on goal - PP, 1-1 2; FC 6-5 11. Saves - PP (Kylie Frantz) 5-3 8; FC (Shelby Bartusek) 1-1 2. Corner kicks - PP, 0-1 1; FC, 3-2 5.