2A boys soccer semifinals: Thomas MacLaren and Crested Butte to meet for state title
(Renee Partridge/CHSAANow.com)
Thomas MacLaren and Crested Butte will meet for the Class 2A boys soccer championship on Saturday. The teams advanced to the title game with wins in their respective semifinal games on Wednesday.
The 2A state title game is scheduled for a 9 a.m. kick at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.
Crested Butte is back in the state championship game for the second time in three seasons. The Titans jumped out to a 2-0 lead at halftime and just kept pouring the goals on in the second half.
This marks the first trip to the state title game since 2018 when the Titans edged Telluride 1-0 in overtime to win their only boys soccer title thus far.
Gabi Marmolejo scored the first goal with an assist from Jacob Burnholtz. and Nathan Sawyer each scored multiple goals for the Titans (8-1-2 overall) to pace them in the win. The Mustangs (6-3-1) had gone five straight games without getting shut out, but couldn’t muster a goal to slow keep pace with Crested Butte.
A quick lead and a big win was the ideal way for the Titans to head into the championship game with confidence.
“I was surprised with how we our team was playing,” coach Than Acuff said. “Dawson might’ve been feeling the bus ride. The boys started on fire and then stalled and then just turned it up in the second half. We were really excited to see that.”
The Titans have now outscored their opponents 14-0 in the 2A playoffs. They’ll try to maintain that offensive efficiency in the 2A state title game which is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.
Thomas MacLaren is off to its first boys soccer state championship game in program history. The Highlanders scored a late goal to get a 3-2 over Denver Christian and earn a berth in the 2A championship game where they’ll play Crested Butte.
It was a bit of quick scoring fest in the first half as Thomas MacLaren took a 2-1 lead.
The Thunder had a chance to tie the game with about 11 minutes left in the first half, but an aggressive play from Highlanders keeper Jeth Fogg knocked the ball away from the net to keep his team in the lead.
Mark Detrick scored the tying goal for Denver Christian late in the first half giving the team renewed energy going into the final 80 minutes.
But it wouldn’t sustain as the Highlanders broke the tie late and held on to get the win.
