Top-seeded Ralston Valley boys soccer heading to 5A state quarterfinals

ARVADA — Ralston Valley sophomore Sawyer Lee put his body on the line to punch the Mustangs’ ticket in the Class 5A boys soccer state quarterfinals.

Lee was fouled with about a dozen minutes to play in the second-round match against Erie. The ensuing direct free kick from distance by senior Adriano Lombardi just found a piece of Lee’s foot near the goal-line that he tapped past Erie junior goalie Brendan McNeal, giving Ralston Valley a 2-1 lead late.

“I just saw (Lombardi) take the free kick and nobody was going,” Lee said of the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal in the 68th minute Tuesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. “At this stage of the season putting your body on the line and maybe running into a post outweighs maybe losing because I don’t (crash the net). I just took the chance.”

No. 1-seeded Ralston Valley took a 2-1 win. The Mustangs will face No. 9 Boulder in the next round of the state tournament.The Panthers defeated rival and No. 8 Fairview on Tuesday night at Broomfield High School by the same 2-1 score.

It was only Lee’s third goal of the season and the third assist of the year by Lombardi, who had a pair of goals in Ralston Valley’s first-round win last week over Adams City.

“You got to whip the ball in. Put pace on it and drive it in. All this boys want to float the ball to the back post,” Ralston Valley coach John Doody said of direct free kicks. “What a great free kick AJ (Lombardi). He has been specular for the last few weeks. He has been amazing.” 

Ralston Valley (16-0-1 record) and Boulder (13-4) will be joined by No. 12 Cherokee Trail, No. 4 Legacy, No. 6 Regis, No. 3 Northfield, No. 7 Pine Creek and No. 2 Cherry Creek in the state quarterfinals. 

The four 5A state quarterfinal games will be played at a neutral site — Randy Penn Stadium at Englewood High School — on Saturday, Nov. 8. Time slots will be 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. CHSAA will announced the order of games Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Randy Penn Stadium’s field is an artificial turf field so Ralston Valley won’t have the advantage of playing on a natural grass fields like NAAC or Lakewood Memorial Field where the Mustangs play all their home and Jeffco League games.

“Fortunately, we’ve been training all year on the turf at RV which is a change from our program,” Doody said. “We feel conformable there. Boulder has all the history. We’ll be up against it.”

Boulder captured 5A boys soccer state titles in 2012 and 2016. Ralston Valley is looking for not only its first state championship in boys soccer, but the Mustangs have never advanced to a state title game on the pitch.

Ralston Valley did take a 4-0 victory over Boulder early this season in a non-league game Sept. 4 at NAAC. 

“We are moving forward and we are going to win it all,” Lee said as the Mustangs move into the quarterfinals this weekend.

Ralston Valley senior Henry Brisson was in the right place at the right time to break the ice in the first half in the 34th minute to give the Mustangs the lead. A ball sent into Erie’s goalie box went off the head of a Tiger defender and right to Brisson. His low shot got through McNeal to give the top-seeded Mustangs a 1-0 lead into halftime. 

Erie (11-4-2) was able to score the equalizer in the 53rd minute. Senior Nathan Bigard did some good work down low before centering a pass to junior Cael Fererra, who was able to rocket a shot from close range into the top of the net to tie the game at 1-1.

“We felt like that second goal was coming. I think a second goal there would have done the job,” Doody said of his thoughts early in the second half. “Instead, we miss place a pass, breakdown and (Erie) scores a great goal.” 

Ralston Valley senior goalie Ben Brown made a couple of saves in the second half to match McNeal before Lee’s game-winning goal. 

“We weathered the storm and I’m really proud of the boys for weathering the storm,” Doody said. “They stepped on the ball and got back control of the game.”

It is the fourth straight trip of the 5A state quarterfinals for Ralston Valley. The Mustangs advance to the semifinals in 2022, but have been bounced of the postseason in the quarterfinals the past two seasons.