CHSAANow

Category: Boys Soccer

  • 5A boys soccer semis: Broomfield and Regis Jesuit advance to title game

    (Adam Bright/CHSAANow.com)

    PARKER — After back-to-back shootouts against Front Range League opponents in the Class 5A state tournament, the last thing Broomfield coach Jim Davidson wanted to see was another overtime contest Wednesday night.

    But that’s exactly where the ninth-seeded Eagles found themselves, playing another league rival in Boulder with a spot in the state championship game on the line. The Eagles didn’t need much extra time though as Zane Jacobson sent the winning shot home in the 84th minute, giving Broomfield the 2-1 victory over the No. 5 Panthers at EchoPark Stadium.

    “I think that would have been really hard to go a second overtime and then (penalty) kicks again,” Davidson said. “I was glad the guys got it done in regulation.”

    Broomfield (16-2-1) will play No. 6 Regis Jesuit in the 5A title game at 6 p.m. on Friday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It’s the Eagles’ fifth trip to the title game in six years.

    Two of those title-game appearances came against Boulder.

    “Whoever wins this match is going to be an awesome team,” Davidson said before the second semifinal. “We’re going to have to be well prepared and try to recover quickly.”

    The Eagles lost to Boulder back on Sept. 24, one of only two losses during the regular season. After some struggles finding the back of the net the previous two games – Broomfield scored only one goal in 220 combined minutes of play against Fairview and Legacy the previous two games – the team broke through in the first half with a nice goal from Gustavo Gutierrez with a little more than 13 minutes remaining.

    Boulder (15-4) responded with the tying score 10 minutes later. Sam Phillips took a pass that just eluded a sliding Eagles defender and ripped it to the right of Broomfield goalkeeper Jack Stoecker.

    That held up until Jacobson found himself with the ball in front of a scrum of players early in overtime. The junior sent a ball directly on net that Panthers keeper Toby Bateman couldn’t come up with cleanly.

    “It’s exciting. The whole season my team has just told me to shoot, shoot, shoot, and see what happens,” Jacobson said. “I took a chance and it went in.”

    Davidson said he wasn’t sure how the ball got through.

    “I don’t know if the keeper didn’t pick it up or what,” Davidson said. “That’s why you take your chances, because you just never know.”

    Stoecker made a number of big stops on the other end, including two chances in front of the net shortly before Gutierrez scored for the Eagles.

    “Those forwards for Boulder are really, really talented,” Davidson said. “They’ve got a lot of pace and they can take guys on. Jack had to really keep his ground, he had to command his box and I thought he was excellent in the six-yard box tonight especially.”

    It was a fitting end to what had almost been a mini-FRL tournament on one side of the bracket. The second round and quarterfinals in Quadrant 1 were comprised of all Front Range League squads, with Broomfield knocking off Fairview and Legacy. Boulder had to defeat Rocky Mountain to reach the semifinals in Quadrant 2.

    “It’s been hard, but that’s what we like,” Jacobson said. “We don’t like easy games. We like to play our rivals, and we like to give our fans a good game. It’s been a good run.”

    Now the Eagles have the opportunity to add to their state-leading seven boys soccer championships Friday night.

    “I just wanted to go win the game for them,” Jacobson said. “We were missing (leading scorer) Mawolo (Easton), and I was thinking about him too and wanted to send him into his last game for his senior year. I didn’t want this to be his last game where he couldn’t play.”

    [divider]

    (6) Regis Jesuit 1, (18) Pine Creek 0

    (Brian Miller/CHSAANow.com)

    After chance after chance was either turned away or just off the mark, Regis Jesuit finally broke through late Wednesday night.

    Casey McCloskey scored in the 65th minute to break a scoreless tie, and the sixth-seeded Raiders made the goal stand up for a 1-0 victory over Pine Creek in the 5A state semifinals.

    Regis Jesuit (16-1-2) advanced to its first state championship game since 2008, where the Raiders will face No. 9 Broomfield on Friday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

    McCloskey finally found a way past Pine Creek keeper Eli Young with 15 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in regulation. Young, who came up with some huge saves, had just deflected a ball with a diving stop to his right, but the rebound went to McCloskey. With the net open, the senior forward simply had to put the ball on target.

    Young finished with eight saves.

    Pine Creek (12-6-1) had made quite a run as the No. 18 seed, upending No. 2 Cherry Creek in the second round and No. 7 Grandview in the quarterfinals. The Eagles had a couple of opportunities in the second half, but it was the play of their defense that was most impressive.

    Regis Jesuit last won a state title in 1996. The team’s only loss in 2019 came to a squad from Kansas City, Mo.

  • Photos: Roaring Fork advances to 3A boys soccer title game by beating Salida

    DENVER — Roaring Fork won its respective semifinal games to advance to Saturday’s Class 3A boys soccer final.

  • 17-year-old Patricia McCracken to officiate 5A boys soccer championship game

    (Photo courtesy of Patricia McCracken)

    Patricia McCracken is the exception to a lot of unwritten rules. Typically, a high school official needs to be at least 18 years old, especially for a game as significant as a state championship.

    But McCracken has already graduated from a high school. She’s already spent time traveling the country and officiating high-level games featuring the best high school and club soccer players around.

    So when it was time for assignments in regard to the Colorado soccer state championship games, she didn’t draw the Class 5A game for the sake of being the exception to a rule.

    She got it because in terms of knowing the rules and enforcing them on the pitch, she’s proven to be exceptional.

    “Even though she’s young, she has a lot of experience,” High School Soccer Officials Association president Ken Hehir said. “She’s refereed a lot of big games. She’s very fit, she’s very fast, she understands the game and I think at that level she is more than capable of being assistant referee on the big game.”

    She is the shining example that young officials can succeed in what has become a volatile environment at times. Even at 17, however, she understands the pressures and the criticisms that come with officiating.

    And maybe she had the right idea. She has been working as an official for about five years starting at the youth level and has learned how to be tough when it comes to the issues that have been attributed into driving officials away from their respective games.

    (Photo courtesy of Patricia McCracken)

    “I’ve just learned since I started at such a young age to build up the thick skin,” McCracken said. “It was definitely hard at first, but honestly I’m able to turn a blind eye to it or to deal with it when it becomes necessary to deal with.”

    Of all the options that Hehir had when it came to the game, McCracken’s credentials were every bit as solid as anyone else he could have chosen. She has already been tagged as an up-and-comer after her selection as the Colorado Referee Administration’s young referee of the year and she fits in with the way that Colorado has been shifting in its way games are being called.

    “We are encouraging younger officials and with the move away from free whistle to the traditional whistle and flags, which we call a diagonal system of control,” he said. “The move back to that system, which is what the rest of the world uses, she has a lot of experience on that side.”

    There is an added benefit to having her on Friday night’s game, it’s a clear message that younger officials can succeed and work their way into big-game situations. Although, he clarified that her selection was no done just to send a message.The Denver native and graduate of the Denver School of the Arts has earned it.

    She admits that when it came to playing soccer, she was analytical and understanding of the game, she just wasn’t the best when it came to actually handling the ball. Her future in the game wasn’t dead, she was just taking a different route to see it at the highest levels.

    “It’s an amazing way to stay with the sport and stay with what you love,” McCracken said. “Even if you are a high-level player, there are a lot of referees out there that played at very high level and it’s a way to understand the sport.”

    And to be involved. The goal is always to be involved and when the whistle blows to signify the start of Friday night’s state championship game, there will be no doubt that she is standing right where she belongs.

    (Photo courtesy of Patricia McCracken)

  • 2A boys soccer: No. 10 Ridgway and No. 4 Dawson to meet for state title

    Fountain Valley Ridgway boys soccer semifinals
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    ENGLEWOOD — The scariest thing a goalkeeper can see on a Saturday afternoon is Ridgway’s Rob Beserra dribbling through defenders and making his way into open space.

    The lesson there: If he gets an open shot, he’s not going to miss.

    In the Class 2A boys soccer semifinals, he had two open shots and connected on both of them to help the Demons beat Fountain Valley 5-1 and advance to next week’s state championship match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

    “I was feeling confident,” Beserra said. “I like playing on turf and it was a good finish.”

    He scored his first goal in the eighth minute after cutting through the Fountain Valley defense and drawing keeper Jacob Thomassen to the near corner of the net. He ripped his shot to the back right corner to get the Demons (11-3-3 overall) on the board.

    The Danes (13-4) answered just minutes later on a scrum right in front of the net on a corner kick. With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Beserra again navigated through the Danes’ defenders and into open space. His shot was on point again and turned out to be the game winner.

    But that doesn’t mean Ridgway was done. Road warriors all tournament, the Demons kept attacking in the second half and scored three more goals. One of which came from Ruben Kornbluh, the son of coach Jon Kornbluh.

    “The story on that is in the hotel room last night he was sick as a dog,” Coach Kornbluh said. “He didn’t think he’d be able to get out of bed, let alone make it on the pitch. He’s also coming off knee surgery in May, so this was his best game in 12 months.”

    Both Beserra and Coach Kornbluh acknowledged that the Demons thrive when playing on the road. The good news on that front is that they’ll have to travel just one more time and that will be next week when they take the field with the 2A state title on the line.

    If they continue to play the way they have all tournament, they believe they can bring a championship trophy home with them on next week’s long bus ride home.

    “Anytime we’ve stepped on the field we’ve been the better team,” Kornbluh said. “We play the right way, we know how to possess, we know how to attack. We’ve just made it about playing the right way.”

    [divider]

    Dawson Denver Christian boys soccer
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    (4) Dawson 3, (9) Denver Christian 2

    A two goal lead is often said to be the most dangerous, and that proved to be the case in the second 2A boys soccer semifinal match.

    After neither team was able to convert on numerous chances throughout the day, Dawson appeared to a state championship appearance wrapped up with a 2-0 lead in the final five minutes of regulation.

    But the game was just beginning. Two late goals from Denver Christian put the game into overtime before the Mustangs came away with a win and a berth in next week’s 2A state championship game.

    Jonas Ricke scored the golden goal with a minute left in the first overtime period to give Dawson the 3-2 win.

    Sam Freedman scored the game’s first goal in the 49th minute to keep the Mustangs’ season alive.

    It was anything but the dominant performance that Ridgway saw in the day’s first game. 

    The best look for the Thunder (10-7-1)  came in the first half came off a free kick from Josh Schlernitzauer. His shot was just out of reach of Dawson keeper Tony Aieta’s hand, but slammed off the post, keeping the game scoreless.

    Dawson had a look of its own six minutes later on a loss ball in front of the net, but keeper Max Atwood was able to knock it away and give his back line a few precious seconds to get composed. 

    Schlernitzauer had a second free kick chance in the 36th minute, but that attempt sailed high. 

    The Mustangs (12-3-2) pressed at the start of the second half and ripped off a couple of early shots, but much like the first half, to no avail.

    In the 49th minute, Nick Knobel made a break down the right side of the field and had a look at the net, but Atwood again came up big with the save.

    The stalemate was finally broken off a Rio Sueyoshi free kick. The loose ball bounced around in front of the net before Isenhart got it by Atwood to put the Mustangs up 1-0.

    Knobel added a second goal in the 65th minute to add some breathing room.

    But it wasn’t enough.

    With just under three minutes to play, Zach Johnson sent a booming ball toward the net to get the Thunder on the board. With time and ideas running out, Johnson figured what worked once might just work twice.

    He sent a second ball in the direction of the cross bar. It was low enough to sneak under and high enough that Aieta couldn’t get a hand on it. In the final minute of play, Denver Christian suddenly had new life.

    But Ricke ended things 14 minutes into the first overtime period. The Mustangs will face Ridgway at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

  • No. 2 Golden heading to 4A boys soccer state semifinals

    ARVADA — It will go down in Golden High School history as the most significant direct free kick by the Demons’ boys soccer program.

    “I’m emotional right now. I think everyone is,” Golden senior Jesse Denk said minutes after the Demons defeated Centaurus 2-1 at the North Area Athletic Complex to send Golden to the Class 4A state semifinals. “This is awesome for us. This is amazing. It’s a crazy experience.”

    Golden senior Zach Chapman (15) attempts to direct a header on goal during the Class 4A state quarterfinal game Saturday at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    The eventual game-winning goal in the 76th minute all started with a direct free kick taken by Denk. Golden seniors Nate Thompson and Sam Markovich both were able to flick headers toward the Warriors’ goal after Denk’s long free kick he took from the other side of midfield.

    “I always see good chances off of those free kicks when Sam Markovich is on the other side of them,” said Denk, who had to drive the kick through a strong north headwind. “There are always some deflections in the box. There is never a good clear with those type of balls. You never know what is going to happen.”

    After the flicks by Thompson and Markovich, Centaurus senior Jackson Osborne was able to get a foot on the ball and pop it straight up.

    However, Golden senior Zach Chapman was able to get position on Osborne and tap the ball back to Markovich. The Class 4A Jeffco League MVP fired a shot past Centaurus goalie Parker Sanchez and the celebration begun for the Demons.

    “All season I’ve been looking for the dangerous balls like that,” Markovich said. “That time I was actually going in with the mindset of getting a flick to one of my teammates. I was glad I able to put it away.”

    Golden senior Christian Sekavec, left, races down the field with Centaurus junior Luke Griswold during the first half Saturday afternoon at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    No. 2 seed Golden (16-1-1 record) now heads to Legacy Stadium in Aurora for the 4A semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 13. The Demons face the winner of No. 11 Denver North and No. 2 Skyview, who were scheduled for a 2 p.m. start Saturday afternoon at Skyview High School.

    “We are ready for it,” Markovich said heading to Legacy Stadium. “We’re not really worried about who we’ve got yet. Whoever it is we’ll come out and play just as hard, and hopefully come out with the W.”

    No. 26 Centaurus (10-7-1) was the lowest seed to advance to the quarterfinals. The Warriors grabbed upset victories over No. 7 Holy Family and No. 10 Discovery Canyon to get a shot at the No. 2 Demons on Saturday afternoon.

    “They (Centaurus) is a good team. My goodness, you know why they knocked off two top-10 seeds,” Golden coach Larry Harding said. “These boys (Demons) won’t be denied. It’s fantastic. I’m proud of these boys.”

    Centaurus broke a scoreless tie in the 59th minute in the second half. Senior Christian Nunez headed a long direct free kick pass a diving Golden goalie DJ Koury to give the Warriors the 1-0 lead.

    Centaurus senior Jesus Garcia (7) is able to poke the ball away from Golden senior Sam Markovich (17) during the first half Saturday afternoon at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    Golden quickly answered a minute later with the equalizer. Senior Ian Persky fired a shot off a rebound into the back of the net in the 60th minute to tie things up 1-1.

    “If you don’t get it right away doubt starts to creep in,” Harding said of the importance of the Demons getting the equalizer a minute after Centaurus took the lead. “It can get away from you quick.”

    Harding pointed to Golden’s lone loss this season as a big turning point for the Demons. Alameda International defeated Golden 4-2 back on Sept. 3 at NAAC. The Demons have gone 15-0-1 since that early season loss.

    “They lost that game and decided they weren’t going to lose another game,” Harding said.

    The Demons have never won a boys soccer state title, but are now just two wins away from claiming a championship. Golden as actually never played in a boys soccer state title game since the Colorado High School Activities Association sanctioned boys soccer in 1975.

    Golden senior Ian Persky (12) scored in the 60th minute to tie the Demons 1-1 with Centaurus in the second half. Golden scored the eventual game-winning goal by senior Sam Markovich in the 76th minute to advance the Demons to the Class 4A state semifinals Wednesday, Nov. 13, at Legacy Stadium in Aurora. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

  • No. 13 Rocky Mountain scores game-winner in 2OT to defeat Arvada West

    Rocky Mountain goalie Aaron Anaya, right, is able to grab a loose ball before Arvada West senior Judah Johnston (17) can get a foot on the ball after being shielded by by Rocky Mountain junior Connor Alexander (12) on Wednesday night at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    ARVADA — Rocky Mountain senior Mike Madden’s goal in the 98th minute allowed the Lobos to escape the freezing drizzle … and more importantly punch the Lobos’ ticket to the Class 5A boys soccer state quarterfinals.

    “I’m just happy to get out of here. It’s cold,” Madden said after knocking home a rebound off a direct free kick taken by Rocky Mountain junior Riley Keeler just outside the goal box early in the second-overtime period. “We are going back to FoCo (Fort Collins). It feels good.”

    The goal gave the No. 13 seed Rocky Mountain a dramatic 4-3 double-overtime victory over No. 4 Arvada West on Wednesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

    Arvada West junior Gabe Schultz (12) attempts to get a shot off as Rocky Mountain junior Payton Petrilli closes in. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “I was on the left side of the wall because I knew there would be some sort of a deflection,” Madden said of the game-winning goal. “The ball just happened to land right there and I put it in.”

    Rocky Mountain stays on the road for the quarterfinals. The Lobos will face the winner of No. 12 Arapahoe and No. 5 Boulder on Saturday, Nov. 9. The Warriors and Panthers had a night game up in Boulder.

    “I thought we were in it the whole game,” said A-West coach Troy Gette after the Wildcats’ 9-game winning streak and season came to an end. “I never really felt that we weren’t going to come back. In overtime it just takes one bounce. They got the bounce.”

    Rocky Mountain took an early lead thanks to a penalty kick by junior Jake Swan in the 4th minute. However, A-West responded in the 13th minute with a penalty kick goal of its own by senior Conner Bickford after the Lobos’ were called for a handball in the goal box.

    The Lobos got back in the lead in the 24th minute. Sophomore Dario Gonzales corralled a rebound after a shot and fired a slow shot past A-West junior goalie Jacoby Landskov, giving Rocky Mountain a 2-1 advantage.

    The Wildcats answered again scoring the equalizer in the 37th minute on a nice give-and-go goal that ended with senior Keegan Nelson putting it in the back of net. The goal knocked the game up 2-2 at halftime.

    “It was kind of what we expected,” Gette said. “We just couldn’t get the lead.”

    Arvada West junior Noah Kanagy (13) tries to work to get off a centering pass while being marked by Rocky Mountain senior Riley Eberling (2) during the first half Wednesday night at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    Rocky Mountain (11-5-1 record) took the lead again in the 64th minute on the second goal of the night by Gonzales on a great assist by senior Hadrood Webster.

    Again, A-West knotted things up at 3-3 with eight minutes to play in regulation time. Senior Judah Johnston hammered home the Wildcats’ second penalty kick goal to send the game into overtime.

    “It’s tough,” Johnston said after his final game played at NAAC. “I think they (Rocky Mountain) came out with a fire that I didn’t feel like we had. They kept on pressuring us and pressuring us. We couldn’t get a break and that is what I thought was the deciding factor in the game.”

    A-West and Rocky Mountain met in the regular season back on Sept. 16 at NAAC. The Wildcats took a 4-1 victory with Bickford scoring a pair of goals for A-West. Johnston and junior Kyler Tate each added a goal in the non-league win.

    “The first time we played them it was early in the season and we made a lot of mistakes,” Madden admitted. “We’ve improved a lot. I knew we could come down here and get it done.”

    The Wildcats graduate seven seniors from their team that won back-to-back 5A Jeffco League titles and amassed a 27-7 record over the past two seasons. A-West was also the lone 5A Jeffco team to advance past the first round of the playoff the last two years.

    “For me I’m just really thankful to have had the opportunity to do this,” said Johnston, who took back-to-back 5A Jeffco League MVP honors his junior and senior champaign. “I know I can look back at my teammates knowing that they will live out the legacy myself and my fellow seniors have built.”

  • Kuot’s late goal lifts No. 3 Rampart over No. 14 Rock Canyon and into 5A boys soccer quarters

    Rampart Rock Canyon boys soccer
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    COLORADO SPRINGS — Oboyo Kuot was bound and determined to get a goal in the second half at District 20 Stadium. Mainly because the idea of an extra 30 minutes was play was frightening.

    Fog rolled through northern Colorado Springs and with it, temperatures plummeted. Kuot, like most players on both sides wanted to get off the field. His header in the 68th minute was all it took and it was No. 3 Rampart getting a 1-0 win over No. 14 Rock Canyon to advance to the Class 5A boys soccer quarterfinals.

    “It was cold,” Kuot said. “I never get used to this cold weather and all that. I just had to keep pushing and keep working through it.”

    The Rams (16-0-1 overall) had a few near chances in the first half. The ball was chipped over Rock Canyon keeper Ian Fleming’s head and Simagen Collins put it into the net, but the play was ruled offsides.

    Domyniko Jordan had a chance shortly after as the ball was placed for a perfect header, but he directed his shot right at Fleming. Through 40 minutes of the play the game was scoreless despite Rampart controlling possession for much of the half.

    “We’re trying to work around and be patient to try to find our openings and, and we kind of did that better than the first half than we did the second half,” Rampart coach Karl Anderson said.

    The best chance for either team in the second half came in the 55th minute on a Rampart corner kick. The attempt flew right in front of the net but no one made a play on it. The defensive battle ensued for another minute before a turnover led to the Jags’ (10-4-3) best chance all game.

    Rampart Rock Canyon boys soccer
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    The breakaway led to a clear shot for Alec Mikolajczak but it was wide of the net. To make matters worse, Mikolajczak went down hard on the play.

    Even with him coming off the field, it felt like Rock Canyon had momentum for the first time in the second half.

    But they couldn’t hold that momentum. It was in the 68th minute that Alec Lenz placed a perfect pass in front of the net. David Peters headed a pass to Kuot who used his own head to get the ball by Fleming.

    “The ball just came in and I saw it, I saw David hitting it to me and I knew I wasn’t going to miss it,” Kuot said. “I put my head on it and I just saw it go in the net.”

    Now in desperation mode, the Jags tried to mount an offensive attack. With under 10 minutes left on the clock, Joseph Kirby worked his way into the open field and had a one-on-one chance against Rampart keeper David Glazener.

    “He’s a right footer, so I figured he would try to slot it in with a right,” Glazener said. “So I gave him a little (shake) and then came over with my left foot.”

    The ball was knocked away, along with Rock Canyon’s last hope of tying the game. The Rams now advance to the 5A quarterfinals where they’ll host Regis Jesuit on Saturday.

    Rampart Rock Canyon boys soccer
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

  • Photos: No. 3 Fountain Valley tops No. 11 Loveland Classical in 2A boys soccer quarterfinals

    Hugh Sperber’s goal in the second half Fountain Valley a 1-0 over Loveland Classical and a berth in the 2A boys soccer semifinals.

  • Photos: No. 6 Regis Jesuit blanks No. 22 Liberty in 5A boys soccer second round

    Luke Galvin and Brendan O’Toole scored goals to give No. 6 Regis Jesuit a 2-0 win over No. 22 Liberty in the second round of the Class 5A boys soccer tournament.

  • No. 2 Golden boys soccer nets state quarterfinal berth

    ARVADA — Golden looked very much like a No. 2 seed in the Class 4A boys soccer tournament Tuesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

    The back-to-back 4A Jeffco League champs cruised past No. 15 Niwot to the tune of a 3-0 victory. The win advances Golden into the state quarterfinals Saturday where the Demons host No. 26 Centaurus back at NAAC.

    Niwot senior Manual Soto (3) clears the ball away from Golden junior Daniel Erger (9) during the first half Tuesday night at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “We got really fortunate with our seeding to give us some home games,” Golden junior Daniel Erger said after the Demons’ third straight shutout victory. “Obviously I love this pitch. I love to be at home. We feel good here.”

    Centaurus scored its second straight postseason road victory Tuesday night. Centaurus edged No. 10 Discovery Canyon 2-1.

    “There is a pedigree there. A few years ago they played in the state championship game,” Golden coach Larry Harding said referring to the Warriors losing to Air Academy in the 4A title game back in 2017. “We are just going to have to go back to the pitch and tighten up some things to get the boys ready for Saturday.”

    Centaurus opened the postseason upsetting No. 7 Holy Family 5-0 last week before defeating another top-10 seed Tuesday night.

    “Once the postseason hits seedings don’t matter,” Golden senior Sam Markovich said.

    The Demons were definitely ready to play in the opening dozen minutes against Niwot. Golden finished off a pair of scoring chances in the 10th and 12th minutes to grab an early lead.

    Golden senior Christian Sekavec ripped home the first goal with a low shot that zipped past Niwot freshman goalie Javier Amaya in the 10th minute.

    Golden senior Ian Persky (12) works past Niwot senior Jared Osteen during the Class 4A boys soccer state playoff game Tuesday night at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    A direct free kick led to another Demon goal two minutes later.

    Erger was fouled outside the goal box by Niwot senior Andre Worrell in the 12th minute. Senior Ian Persky took the free kick that was tipped by senior Josh Colin and then Erger was able to get a foot on the ball to flick it over the head of Amaya for an early 2-0 lead.

    “Before the game I was talking about playing it one the ground and playing it low so I could get a touch on it,” Erger said. “There was a nice little flick by Josh (Colin) as well. It worked out in our favor.”

    Golden (15-1-1 record) extended its lead to 3-0 in the 26th minute. Niwot was called for a handball in the goal box off a free kick from Persky. Golden senior Joaquin Garfias slammed home the penalty kick to give the Demons a commanding 3-goal lead.

    Niwot had a flurry of scoring chances with about five minutes to play in the first half, but Golden senior goalie DJ Koury was up to the challenge. The Cougars (11-6) couldn’t trim into the Demons’ lead at halftime.

    “We’ve been a strong defensive team all year, but we haven’t played to many complete games,” Markovich said after the Demons’ sixth shutout win of the season. “It was nice to get a clean sheet (shutout) like this. We come out with the mindset that we aren’t scared of anybody. We do whatever it takes to keep the ball out of the net.”

    Tuesday’s win was a far cry from Golden’s first-round win Saturday where the Demons squeaked out a 1-0 victory against No. 31 Denver West.

    “They came out tonight more focused. Especially in the first half,” Harding said. “I’m enjoying this.”

    Golden is the lone 4A Jeffco League team to advance to the state quarterfinals. Standley Lake suffered a 2-0 loss to Silver Creek on Tuesday night.

    “At this point it’s all about motivation and how badly you want it,” Harding said. “The hard work is paying off. They have worked really hard.”

    Golden will be back at the North Area Athletic Complex to host a Class 4A boys soccer state quarterfinal game Saturday, Nov. 9. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)