LAKEWOOD — Arvada West’s boys soccer team continues to show off its multiple scoring options and impenetrable defense.
The Wildcats — No. 10 in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A boys soccer rankings — took a 4-0 victory over previously undefeated Bear Creek on Monday at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood.
“This was a super huge game for us,” A-West senior goalie Jacoby Landskov said about the late Monday afternoon win over the Bears. “It felt super nice to come out strong and beat a really good team.”
The shutout victory was A-West’s third in as many games. The Wildcats (3-0, 2-0 in 5A Jeffco League) have outscored their opponents 11-0 through the first three games.
Landskov has been in net for all three of the Wildcats’ victories. His best save of the game against Bear Creek (2-1, 2-1) came in the first half when Landskov was just able to keep a spinning shot out of the net when the game was scoreless.
“That’s the goal,” Landskov said of the Wildcats not allowing a goal all season. “We made a bet. The guys said, ‘Jacoby, we’ll pay you $50 if you don’t give up a goal the entire year.’ We are on a roll right now and it’s not just me. Our defense is playing really well right now. They are making my job easy.”
A-West junior Dylan Richards broke the ice in the 31st minute with a direct free-kick that skipped in front of Bear Creek junior goalie Garrett Nelson and into the back of the net. The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
It was Nelson’s first goal of the season. He became the seventh different goal-scorer for A-West this season and it was the first of two goals on the day on direct free-kicks.
“We work on set pieces a lot in practice,” A-West senior captain Kyler Tate said. “We might have got a little lucky on that first goal. We try to score a lot of goals on those set pieces.”
Tate made it a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute. His goal came off another set piece, a direct free-kick from 27 yards out. It was the second goal of the season for Tate. Senior captain Noah Kanagy picked up his third goal on the season with a strong run before sliding a shot past Nelson to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
“I think we definitely have a deeper team then we did last year,” Tate said. “We are trying to get everyone involved.”
The Wildcats put the game away with a penalty kick goal by senior Karl Pankratz, his first goal of the season, to make it a 4-0 lead. Pankratz became the eighth different player to put one in the back of the net on the season for A-West.
“Other teams should be afraid,” Landskov said. “Our entire team can score. It’s not about locking up one player. We’ve got nine other guys out there that can score.”
A-West is hoping to erase the memories of having a stellar regular season, but falling short in the postseason. The Wildcats were the No. 4 seed in the 5A state tournament in the Fall of 2019, but lost to Rocky Mountain in the second round. In 2018, A-West suffered a tough 1-0 loss to eventual state champion Arapahoe in the second round.
“Definitely a third straight league title is the goal,” Tate said. “We’ve come up a little short (in the playoffs) over the past two years. We think we can do it this year and go all the way.”
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