Ralston Valley boys soccer takes 5A Jeffco with win over No. 9 A-West
ARVADA — Fittingly, the winner of the Class 5A Jeffco League boys soccer championship came down to one game between the two dominate teams in the conference over the past six years.
Arvada West, No. 9 in the latest CHSAANow.com Class 5A poll, came in riding an eight-game winning streak Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. Standing in the way of the Wildcats’ fifth conference title in six years was rival Ralston Valley.
The Mustangs (11-3, 7-0 in league) grabbed the league title away from the Wildcats (11-4, 6-1) thanks to a goal on a direct free kick in the 72nd minute off the foot of Ralston Valley sophomore Mason Miller. The late goal allowed Ralston Valley to take a 2-1 victory.
“I saw the keeper leaning a little toward his front post and the wall was on the front post too,” Miller said of his game-winning goal. “He left a little bit of the back post open. I figured if I hit it just right I felt like I could put it in there.”
A-West had a direct kick with two seconds left in regulation time, but a shot by senior Alec Breay was headed away from Ralston Valley senior Kevin Yevak near the goal as time expired.
“He (Yavak) is awesome,” Ralston Valley junior goalie Jared Peterson said. “He was right there where he needed to be at the end of the game.”
The Mustangs prevented an A-West four-peat in 2014 with Ralston Valley defeating the Wildcats 3-2 in overtime. Ralston Valley went on to go undefeated in conference play that season to win the league title.
Scarcliff, a Ralston Valley graduate, was named head coach in late July. She admits an undefeated conference record and eight-game winning streak was something she didn’t expect.
“It’s been a cool season and I’ve been very lucky to be apart of it,” Scarcliff said. “I don’t know if I would have believe it. I knew the boys had it in them. It’s special group and a talented group.”
Ralston Valley is slated for one final non-league game against defending 4A state champion Evergreen. That game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Oct. 20 at Lakewood Memorial Field.
Going into Friday’s showdown, Ralston Valley was 14th in the RPI standings while A-West was 20th. Both will be in the state tournament as the top two teams in 5A Jeffco receiving automatic bids, but seeding will depend on how the final RPI numbers shake out.
A-West has some down time before the postseason begins Thursday, Oct. 27. CHSAA will release the 32-team 5A state bracket on Oct. 23.
“It was fun. It was a good entertaining game,” A-West coach Troy Gette said. “It was two good teams playing each other. We are both at the top of Jeffco for a reason.”
A-West opened the scoring the 21st minute. Senior Luke Drumright rocketed a direct free kick from just outside Ralston Valley’s goalie box. The Mustangs’ wall got a piece of the shot, but it had enough on it to get by Peterson.
Ralston Valley answered on a set piece of its own in the 31st minute. Sophomore Sam Keller was able to get his head on a corner kick and get it past A-West goalie Brandan Bell to tie the game at 1-1 at halftime.
The Wildcats had allowed just one goal in six conference games heading into the league finale.
“Two kids stepped up real big to get us some goals,” Scarcliff said. “(Miller’s) free kick came at the perfect time when we needed it. We said how set pieces were going to be a make or break for us offensively and defensively.”
