Arvada West boys soccer puts on offensive show in opener

ARVADA — Arvada West seniors Aidan Bolduc and Carter Sevier put on a scoring clinic Thursday on opening night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

Bolduc and Sevier combined for seven goals as the Wildcats cruised to a 10-1 victory over area rival Standley Lake in a non-league game.

“I think they came out and played the right way,” A-West coach Troy Gette said of Bolduc and Sevier putting in goals 10 seconds apart in the opening minute. “They just kind of settled in and took their foot off the gas a little bit. At halftime we made some adjustments. They came out and played the right way the whole second half.”

Sevier found the back of the net in the 4th minute to give the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead. Standley Lake freshman Semi Gazlbara answered with a goal in the 11th minute. Both defenses tighten up for the remainder of the first half.

A-West took a 3-1 lead into halftime.

“For the first eight minutes we were really pressuring with a lot of energy,” said Bolduc, who scored four goals which is just one goal behind his total of five for the whole 2021 season. “It dropped for a little bit. We started to figure it out in the second half. We started connecting more passes and were able to find each other to bring that energy back”

Bolduc scored three goals over a span of 14 minutes in the second half. The Wildcats (1-0 record) tallied seven unanswered goals after halftime.

“I think we have some pretty dynamic players this year going forward,” Gette said. “Hopefully our defense can match what our attack can bring us.”

Scoring was something A-West struggled with at times last year. The Wildcats scored just a single goal in their final three league games last year as A-West fell to sixth in the conference standings and missed out on the postseason.

“We always have high expectations in 5A Jeffco (league play),” Bolduc said of A-West eyeing a rebound year in league this season.

Sevier put in his third goal of the game in the 67th minute. Junior Gael Martinez, sophomore Carson Welling and senior Yavani Tamayo got into the scoring action to get the Wildcats to double-digit goals in a game for the first time in over a decade.

“It’s a pretty balanced group from top to bottom,” Gette said of the Wildcats’ depth this season. “I’m really comfortable with players coming off the bench and not losing a beat.”

A-West returns to NAAC next week to face ThunderRidge on Tuesday, Aug. 23, and 4A’s No. 3 ranked Denver North on Thursday, Aug. 25. Standley Lake (0-1) is back at NAAC also next week to face Skyline in a non-league game on Tuesday.