THORNTON — Fort Collins golfer AJ Ott had a hole-in-one on the par-three No. 16 and finished with a 4-under 68 on Friday, helping the Lambkins to a fifth place finish, with an overall score of 313 among 13 teams.
AURORA — Kevin Del Mazo converted a penalty kick late in the second half to lift No. 5 Smoky Hill boys soccer over No. 3 Boulder in Class 5A action on Tuesday.
Sam Franceschi also scored for Smoky Hill. Quinn Liebmann had Boulder’s goal.
Pine Creek is the No. 1 team in this year’s preseason Class 5A boys soccer ranking. (Pam Wagner)
Pine Creek, Cheyenne Mountain and Salida are on top of CHSAANow.com’s preseason boys soccer rankings.
Both Pine Creek (5A) and Cheyenne Mountain (4A) are defending champions, while Salida was a semifinalist in 3A last season.
Following Pine Creek in the 5A ranking is No. 2 Rock Canyon, No. 3 Boulder, No. 4 Denver East and No. 5 Smoky Hill. Grandview is sixth, Fairview is seventh, Heritage is eighth, Cherry Creek is ninth and Rangeview is tenth.
Air Academy is No. 2 in 4A after Cheyenne Mountain.
Defending 3A champion Colorado Academy is second in that ranking, just two points behind Salida.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be released each Monday.
Voted upon by coaches and select media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
Liberty 10, Arvada West 6, Montbello 6, Fort Collins 5, Arapahoe 3, George Washington 3, Ralston Valley 3, Broomfield 2.
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Cheyenne Mountain (9)
97
2
Air Academy (1)
76
3
Evergreen
72
4
Ponderosa
54
5
Battle Mountain
50
6
Niwot
36
7
Denver North
31
8
Standley Lake
27
9
Centaurus
26
10
Pueblo West
13
Others receiving votes:
Valor Christian 10, Wheat Ridge 10, Palmer Ridge 8, Lewis-Palmer 6, Summit 6, Longmont 5, D’Evelyn 4, Silver Creek 4, Greeley West 3, Green Mountain 3, The Classical Academy 3, Montrose 2, Pueblo Central 2, Pueblo Centennial 1, Windsor 1.
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
PTS
1
Salida (5)
67
2
Colorado Academy (2)
65
3
Coal Ridge
49
4
Fountain Valley
48
5
Denver Christian
39
6
Kent Denver
35
7
Sheridan
29
8
Vail Mountain
18
9
Bruce Randolph
12
10
Frontier Academy
8
Others receiving votes:
Aurora West 5, Manitou Springs 5, Roaring Fork 3, Faith Christian 2.
Ralston Valley sophomore Alyssa Kaiser (24) hugs fellow sophomore Emma Musson (9) after the Mustangs’ first-half goal Tuesday at the North Area Athletic Complex. Ralston Valley scored a 3-0 victory over Boulder to advance to the second round of the Class 5A state tournament (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Ralston Valley soccer players were in the right place at the right time when sophomore Alyssa Kaiser was putting shots goal Tuesday at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Sophomore Emma Musson and senior Janelle Feldmann both knocked in rebounds off shots from Kaiser shots in the first round of the Class 5A girls’ soccer state tournament.
“I just shot the ball as hard and I could. Hopefully it would go in or go off the keeper,” said Kaiser after the No. 10-seeded Mustangs took a 3-0 victory over the No. 23-seeded Boulder Panthers. “We talked about shooting outside the box a lot.”
Ralston Valley broke a scoreless tie late in the first half capitalizing on a hard shot from Kaiser that Boulder freshman goalie Faviola Morquecho couldn’t keep in her grasp. Musson was able to calmly settle the ball off the rebound then fire a shot past Morquecho with just 33.6 seconds left in the first half.
Ralston Valley sophomore Alyssa Kaiser (24) works against Boulder senior Sarah Radzihovsky (1) on Tuesday during the Class 5A girls soccer first-round playoff game at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss)
“Alyssa played harder, smarter and more unselfish tonight than I’ve ever seen her play,” Ralston Valley coach Kamee Morwood said of her sophomore standout. “She changed the entire game for us. She gave us the opportunities. She put the team on her shoulders.”
The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead into halftime after a wild final four minutes of the first half that full of scoring opportunities for Ralston Valley and Boulder.
The Panthers nearly put in an own-goal in the 36th minute. Morquecho had to tip the arrant clearing attempt over the cross bar. Kaiser dodged past a couple of Boulder defenders a minute later, but her shot hit the far post and was cleared.
Then it was the Panthers chance to get on the scoreboard. A good run by senior Sarah Radzihovsky got the ball deep into Ralston Valley’s defensive zone, but junior goalie Renee Roemer was able to make the save on Boulder senior Carin Cleveland in the 38th minute.
Musson’s goal with less than a minute left before halftime finally broke the scoreless tie.
“Boulder is a great team. We were looking for that one aspect that would change it before half and we found it,” Feldmann said. “We were able to go into the second half with some confidence and fire.”
Feldmann’s goal came in the 59th minute to give the Mustangs (13-3) a 2-0 lead. For the second time Kaiser hit the cross bar with a shot, but Feldmann was there to put the ball into the net.
“We’ve missed a lot of those this season against teams we’ve lost to on rebounds we weren’t there for,” Morwood said. “We really talked about it going into this game.”
Ralston Valley senior Shae Sellers (3) looks back for the ball as Boulder senior Sarah Radzihovsky (1) takes a spill Tuesday at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss)
The Mustangs added an insurance goal in the 74th minute on a high shot by sophomore Alaina Snedden that beat Morquecho. Roemer picked up the shutout victory in net for the Mustangs.
Boulder had success at NAAC last year in the first round of the playoffs. The Panthers knocked off Arvada West 1-0 last year.
“We’ve seen what happens when you underestimate teams,” Feldmann said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. Every team in the playoffs is going to be hard from here on out.”
Next up for Ralston Valley will be a second-round date with No. 7-seeded Cherry Creek. The Bruins (12-4) overcame a first-half deficit against Heritage on Tuesday to eventually take a 3-2 victory. The second-round game will be played Friday at Stutler Bowl.
Ralston Valley sophomore Emma Musson (9) fires a shot past Boulder junior Tessa Regnier during the first half Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss)
Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 17 are below.
Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 9 are below.
WESTMINSTER — A number of meet records fell at the Mustang Track & Field Invitational on Saturday, which drew 25 different teams from across the state to 1STBANK Field.
Mountain Range hosted the event.
Niwot’s girls won with a total of 88 points. Monarch was second with 69, and Denver East was third with 68.
Regis Jesuit’s boys won with 70 overall points. Highlands Ranch and Monarch tied for second with 63 each, while Boulder was fourth with 64.