Ralston Valley and Regis will play for the 5A boys soccer championship Saturday

DENVER — Ralston Valley senior goalie Ben Brown was as cool as the other side of the pillow late Tuesday night at CIBER Field on the University of Denver campus.

With Ralston Valley and Cherokee Trail tied 1-1 after 80 minutes of the regular, along with 30 minutes of overtime, a shootout would decide the Class 5A boys soccer semifinal. Brown would attempt to match Cherokee Trail’s 6-foot-6 junior goalie Forrest Cornett.

“Ben was so good this week on penalties. We’ve been doing penalties six or seven nights in a row realistically just like a shootout,” Ralston Valley coach John Doody said. “Right before the shootout I told Nico (assistant coach Nico Johnson) that Ben was going to save a few of them.”

That is precisely what happened. Brown made saves on the Cougars’ second and third shooters. After a Cherokee Trail senior Ben Lewandowski shot sailed over the crossbar the Mustangs players celebrated a 3-1 shootout victory to advance Ralston Valley to its first ever boys soccer state championship game.

“I’ve been confident in saving penalties since we started practicing them for playoffs,” Brown said. “I just have that gut feeling if you guess right you guess right. If you guess wrong your teammates are going to back you up to score their shots.”

It was the 17th straight victory for top-seeded Ralston Valley (18-0-1 record).

“Unbelievable,” Ralston Valley senior Ethan Orchard said of Brown’s two saves during the shootout. “Ben works so hard and is such a great leader. Coming up big in moments like that can only be done by the great players.”

Ralston Valley was a perfect 3-for-3 on its shootout kicks. Orchard, sophomore Noah Kapustka and junior Dylan Chambers all hit the back of the net.

“I just wanted them to stay calm and not to be overwhelmed by the moment,” said Brown about how he just pointed to the Ralston Valley student section after his first save in the shootout. “We just need to stay composed and bury them in the back of the net. That is what we did.”

No. 12 Cherokee Trail nearly derailed the Mustangs quest to make the state title game. Senior Derek Seymour scored in the 68th minute to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead late in the second half.

Time was running out on Ralston Valley. After a remarkable kick save by Cornett on a pointblank shot by senior Henry Brisson with just minutes to play was a sign that it might just not be the Mustangs’ night.

“We really kept believing,” Doody said of the Mustangs finally getting the equalizing goal in the with 86 seconds left in regulation time. 

Orchard got a feed from sophomore Sawyer Lee in the Cougars’ goalie box and put in the equalizing goal with 1:26 remaining in the second half.

“All credit to Sawyer. He found me in a perfect spot,” Orchard said of his 17th goal on the season. “All I had to do was take a touch and slide it inside the near post.”

Orchard’s late goal and the 3-1 shootout victory allowed Ralston Valley to join No. 6 Regis in the 5A state championship game scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at Switchbacks’ Weidner Field in Colorado Springs. Regis defeated Pine Creek 3-2 in the earlier semifinal at DU.

“We are so looking forward to Regis. I respect Rick (Regis coach Rick Wolf) so much,” Doody said. “We had an amazing match at the beginning of the season. After that game we said that we hope to see each other in the last one.”

Brown actually scored the game-tying goal in the final seconds against Regis. The 1-1 tie Aug. 26 is the only blemish on Ralston Valley’s record. Regis (17-0-2) doesn’t have a loss either on its record heading to the title game.

“Both teams have defintely come far since the game in August,” Brown said of the rematch against Regis. “I think we are a lot better. They are a lot better. It’s going to be a heck of a dogfight down in the Springs.”

Despite the dramatic semifinal win for Ralston Valley, Orchard knows the Mustangs must refocus heading to the championship game Saturday.

“Whatever happened tonight we need to get it out of our heads,” Orchard said of heading to Colorado Springs in an attempt to win the program’s first boys soccer state title. “It’s a big win tonight, but at the end of the day we haven’t done anything yet. We’ve got one more game, a chance to make history and cement our legacy.”