Arvada West and Wheat Ridge tie in boys soccer action at NAAC

ARVADA — There was no loser, or winner Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.

Arvada West and Wheat Ridge boys soccer teams ended in a 1-1 draw after 80 minutes in the non-league battle of Class 5A and 4A Jeffco League teams.

“I think it was pretty fair for both,” Wheat Ridge coach Lawrie O’Toole said of the draw. “Anytime we can play a 5A team and get a result is huge for us. It helps us in RPI and that is why we always schedule them.”

The Farmers (3-1-1 record) was coming off their first loss of the season. Denver North shut out Wheat Ridge on Monday night at Lakewood Memorial Field.

Wheat Ridge took the lead against A-West (3-1-1) in the 34th minute. Sophomore Jonah Halsor cashed in on a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead. A-West responded less than a minute later with a nice header goal by senior Brody Welling off an assist by senior Cade Benage. 

The 1-1 halftime didn’t change in the second half as senior goalies Finley Pfannenstiel (A-West) and Andrew Miller (Wheat Ridge) were both brilliant in net.

“Drew has been amazing. It’s actually my fourth year coaching him,” said Lawrie, who was the JV coach at Wheat Ridge before taking over the head job. “He (Miller) was a field player and kind of a forced goalie, but he has been huge for us. Massive saves and keeping us in games.”

The Farmers already have three shutout wins this season. Wheat Ridge had only allowed two goals in five games.A-West has also been solid defensively only giving up four goals in five games. 

Pfannenstiel got some help to preserve the tie in the 79th minute. After an initial save by the Wildcats’ senior goalie the rebound came right to Wheat Ridge senior Jacob Harrison, who fired a hard shot on to what looked like an empty net, but it wasn’t empty.

“To be honest, I wasn’t even thinking,” A-West senior defender Antonio Lombardi said of his game-saving move in the final minute. “I checked over and my keeper wasn’t there. I just dropped to the line. It was just a quick reaction. I put my foot out. Blessed to save it.”

Lombardi was able to prevent the shot by Harrison from going into the net to keep the game a draw.

A-West has a pair of non-league games against Brighton and Fairview before opening up 5A Jeffco League play against rival Ralston Valley on Sept. 25 at NAAC.

“I’m super excited,” Lombardi said getting into 5A Jeffco League play. “We have been training every day hard. The chemistry on this team is really good.”

Wheat Ridge dives into its 4A/3A Jeffco League schedule next week. The Farmers open conference play against Pomona on Monday, Sept. 15, at Lakewood Memorial Field.

“Sometimes we’ll play two or even three times a week,” O’Toole said of the 10-game league schedule that features 11 4A/3A Jeffco squads. “It’s a long end of the season, but it goes by quick. It is grueling to the end.”

The Farmers finished third in league last season after back-to-back conference titles in 2022 and 2023.