5A boys soccer semifinals: Denver East, Fairview advance to title game

ENGLEWOOD — Denver East will attempt to win its fourth boys soccer state title this weekend while Fairview will try to claim a second boys soccer state title over the past three seasons.

No. 2-seeded Denver East took a 2-1 victory over No. 3 Valor Christian on Wednesday night at Randy Penn Stadium at Englewood High School. No. 12 Fairview outlasted No. 8 Ralston Valley in the second semifinal. The Knights and Mustangs had to go to penalty kicks where Fairview won 5-4 in PKs to setup the showdown against Denver East.

The 5A state championship game will be 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.

(2) Denver East 2, (3) Valor Christian 1

Denver East sophomore Clayton Thomas used his head as the Angels kept their heads after trailing No. 3-seeded Valor Christian 1-0 in the second half.

Thomas broke a 1-1 tie with a dramatic direct free kick that went head to head to back of the net in the 69th minute to give the No. 2 Angels a 2-1 lead that they were able to hold in the final minutes.

Denver East junior Theo Scott took a long direct free kick from nearly midfield with just over 11 minutes remaining in regular-time. Scott’s ball went off teammate James Tucker’s head and right to Thomas who was standing unmarked at the far post.

“I’ve got to give credit to my coach (Kirk Bast),” Thomas said of the goal. “On one of the free kicks he told me to stay out wide and be the one man to be ready for a ball.”

Denver East has three boys soccer state titles — 2011, 2008 and 1994 — under the program’s belt. It looked like Valor (17-1-1) would have a chance to play for its first boys soccer title, but the Angels (17-1-1 record) handed the Eagles their first loss of the season.

Valor senior Zach Winkelman broke a scoreless tie in the 49th minute to put the Eagles up 1-0. A feed into the Angels’ goalie box found Winkelman who fired it into the back of the net for the first score of the night.

“After (Valor’s) goal we made sure to keep our heads up,” Thomas said. “We know we can play and we would beat them. It’s East soccer baby.”

Denver East answered in the 56th minute. A nifty pass from junior Grant Elliott found the head of senior Guston Sundstrom who put the ball into the back of the net to even things up 1-1.

The best scoring chance for both teams came late in the first half. However, the game remained scoreless after the first 40 minutes of play.

Sundstrom flicked a header on goal, but Valor junior goalie Dennis Polzin made a leaping grab in the 35th minute. Valor senior Grant Walter rocketed a low shot less than a minute later on Denver East junior goalie Liam Sloan, but Sloan was up to the task and made a diving save.

Sloan made another great save in the final minute of the first half to keep the game scoreless going into halftime.

(12) Fairview 1, (8) Ralston Valley 1 (Fairview wins 5-4 in PKs to advance to 5A title game

The right foot of Fairview senior Joseph Lee is sending Fairview back to the Class 5A boys soccer state championship game.

Lee gave the Knights a 5-4 victory in penalty kicks over Ralston Valley late Wednesday night at Randy Penn Stadium to punch Fairview’s ticket to the state title game. Fairivew and Ralston Valley were tied 1-1 after 80 minutes of regular-time and a pair of 15-minute overtime periods to force the game to go to penalty kicks.

“At the beginning of the season I didn’t even think in a million years would we make it to the finals,” Lee said. “All the work that the young guys put in the whole season paid off. One more. One more.”

Fairview captured the 5A state title in 2020 during the shortened season that was actually played in the Spring of 2021 due to the COVID pandemic. The Knights defeated Cherry Creek 2-0 in the state title game May 1, 2021 at Switchbacks Weidner Field to win Fairview’s first boys soccer state championship.

Lee, who was on the state championship team, was the fifth and final Fairview player to score during the shutout. Right after Lee tucked his PK under the crossbar and into the back of the net he sprinted over to celebrate with Fairview’s student section that was gathered behind the fences in the southwest corner of the stadium.

“Credit to all the other four before me. They slotted their’s,” Lee said. “I really couldn’t have asked for a better way to win a state semifinal.”

Nolan Kelly, Owen Gilbert, Tate Ruzzin and Oliver Harmon all made their PKs facing Ralston Valley junior goalie Evan Bierman before Lee delivered the game-winning goal. The Mustangs (13-6 record) made their first four PKs with Michael Ahern, Cooper Hineline, Shaun Martinez and Ryan Mann scoring on Fairview senior goalie Shane Williams.

However, Ralston Valley junior Cole Creasey’s shot went just wide left to open the door for Lee to end the game.

“Relief,” Williams said of his emotions after the shot by Creasey slid just wide.

Williams and Bierman were both brilliant in regular-time and during the 30 minutes of overtime when a light snow started to fall.

“I never hope any games goes to a shootout. That’s a lot of pressure on everyone,” Williams admitted. “It is just hectic and you need a little bit of luck. We are good in shootouts and we have trust in ourselves.”

After Fairview and Ralston Valley were scoreless through the first 40 minute. A pair of goals came back-to-back in the second half.

Ruzzin and Ralston Valley junior Liam Rooney scored 12 seconds apart in the 58th minute to give a quick scoring burst to end the scoring draught for both squads.

Ruzzin lasered a long shot from about 40 yards out that was just over the hands of Bierman to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. However, seconds later the Mustangs used two kicks from midfield that ended up on the head of Rooney who put it past Williams to knot things up 1-1.

Ralston Valley dominated possession in the first half, but couldn’t get a ball behind Williams. One of the better chances in the first half came off the foot of Ralston Valley senior Pablo Molla Tejero in the final few minutes of the first half. His long shot in transition just skimmed off the crossbar.

Bierman made back-to-back saves in the second overtime to keep the game going before the eventual shootout.

“I knew were I was going to go before it even got to the PK spot,” Lee said. “We practice our PKs throughout the season. I missed one the season before and that kind of hits your confidence, but throughout the season I started building it back.”

Fairview (13-5-1) will take a six-game winning streak into the 5A title game Saturday.

“We’ve showed that we are better than we had been (in the regular season),” Williams said of the postseason run.