Top-seed Ralston Valley soccer kicks past Boulder to advance to 5A semifinals

ENGLEWOOD — Ralston Valley stopped a disturbing trend Saturday during the Class 5A state quarterfinals at Randy Penn Stadium on the campus of Englewood High School.

No. 2 Cherry Creek, No. 3 Northfield and No. 4 Legacy all fell to lower seeds in the first three quarterfinal games of the day, but top-seeded Ralston Valley wanted nothing to do with continuing the series of upsets. 

“That last thing I said to them was the upsets have to end now,” Ralston Valley coach John Doody said what he took his players before they took the pitch against Boulder. “They responded well.”

The No. 1-seeded Mustangs grabbed a 1-0 victory over No. 9 Boulder in the final game of the night to punch the last ticket to the 5A semifinals Tuesday, Nov. 11, at CIBER Field on the campus of the University of Denver.

The lone goal of the night came off the foot of Ralston Valley sophomore Buddy Pouchot in the 14th minute of the first half. It was the sixth goal of the season for the sophomore and ended a 9-game goalless streak for Pouchot.

“He (Pouchot) is so good cutting in and getting on his right foot,” Doody said of the lone goal of the match. “He hit the cross bar against Erie. We’ve seen it multiple times this season. It was a timely time for him to tuck that one in.”

Boulder senior goalie Joey Schwab got a hand of the hardline drive shot, but not enough to stop the momentum of the ball to carry across the goal-line.

“As soon as I shot it and knew it was a good shot,” Pouchot said. “I saw the goalie might save it, but then it went in. It was great. It was an unreal feeling. I’m just over the moon right now.”

Boulder (13-5 record) and Ralston Valley (17-0-1) both had scoring chances, but Schwab and Ralston Valley senior goalie Ben Brown didn’t allow anything into the back of the net the rest of the game.

“It feels great. After last year, losing 2-0 to Northfield. We wanted this badly,” Brown said after his 13th shutout in net this season. “At the end of the day we wanted it more and that is what got us the victory.” 

The Mustangs had lost in the quarterfinals at Randy Penn Stadium the past two years under Doody. Ralston Valley was able to get over that quarterfinal hump against Boulder, a team Ralston Valley defeated 4-0 back on Sept. 4 at the North Area Athletic Complex. 

“We had played (Boulder) before. We knew they were going to be good, but I think we knew we were going to take care of business,” Pouchot said. “That is what we did.”

It was the fourth shutout loss of the season for the Panthers. 

“Our backline really stepped it up,” Pouchot said after the Mustangs’ 13th shutout victory of the season. “Everyone came in blocking shots left and right. I don’t know how many shots they had on goal, but when they did Ben took care of things. It was a masterclass defensive performance from RV tonight. It was an amazing game to be apart of.”