Grady Lewis’ first soccer game in Colorado was a “character-building game.”

Lewis transferred from Jackson Hole Community School in Jackson, Wyoming, to Fountain Valley for his junior season, but his new squad lost 7-1 at home to Salida.

The defeat was the Danes’ worst since a 6-1 loss against Colorado Springs Christian in the 2017 playoffs.

For this week’s Peak Performer, though, the six-goal blowout offered wisdom to a player seeking knowledge. It eventually paved the way for Lewis’ first hat trick at Fountain Valley.

“Taking a loss in the early part of the year and learning the lesson at that time is excellent. It was a character-building moment.” coach Anthony Karibian said. “You never know what a kid will do with all those environmental changes. Grady’s happy place is on a soccer field. When things go well, he grows from that. When we had our first game he adjusted from that and he put on his work boots and said, ‘let’s go.’ For him to stay focused and grow as a player was positive.”

Fountain Valley finished the regular season 11-3-1 and tallied 81 goals for the year and, after the loss to Salida, conceded just 20 goals in 14 games.

Lewis scored the Danes’ lone goal against the Spartans and, after the season opener, he’s struck 17 more times.

He’s the Danes’ second leading scorer, behind Luke Marcus, who leads the team with 24 goals.

The Danes’ earned a 6-0 win against No. 24 Grand Valley in the first round of the 2A playoffs. But in the second round, the No. 9-seed found themselves in a 1-0 hole at the break against No. 8 Dawson School.

The deficit didn’t bother the players, least of all Karibian.

“Coach was really calm and he told us that patience is the key to winning the game,” Lewis said.

Karibian confirmed his cavalier attitude and added that he wanted the players relaxed for the final 40 minutes.

“I had a goofy smile on my face at halftime and said, ‘let’s go,’” Karibian said. “It’s from that early adversity against Salida. We weren’t uncomfortable in those situations when we were down. We don’t want to be in that situation, but it’s a ‘So-what? We-can-do this’ attitude.”

For Lewis, the halftime deficit fueled him to battle for his teammates, including the seniors who faced the reality of playing in their final game.

“I had this drive in me,” Lewis said. “All the seniors realized that it could be their final game at Fountain Valley. I scored three goals, but it wouldn’t have been possible without our midfielders. Patience was the key to that game along with composure and discipline.”

After trailing 1-0 at the break, Lewis scored three unanswered goals for the Danes to give the junior a hat trick and helped Fountain Valley earn a 3-2 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.

“Our boys were disciplined, and Dawson came out a little flat,” Lewis said. “Something flicked in me and that happens sometimes. I wanted to win and I was happy we were able to get out with the win.”

The Danes advanced and face the No. 1 seed Denver Christian on the road at noon Saturday.

Fountain Valley played Denver Christian last season in September and won 4-1 against the Thunder.

Karibian hopes the team doesn’t face such a deficit again. If they do though, Karibian knows he has a great Dane capable of making big plays.

“That was a moment where I was proud of him and all the boys,” Karibian said. “He’s 16 and when emotion takes over, sometimes you channel that into something positive. He grabbed the baton and helped lead us to the win. We were good to go.”