Silver Creek headed to first-ever semifinal

4A BOYS SOCCER

Silver Creek’s Aris Lindquist right, and Jack Boyt. left. celebrate a 2-1 win over Centaurus in the Class 4A quarterfinals at Spangenberg Field Monday. PHOTO S BY BRENT W. NEW — BOCOPREPS.COM

Silver Creek’s Parker Brown holds possession with Centaurus’ Liam Dols applying pressure in the Class 4A quarterfinals at Spangenberg Field Monday.

Image

By Brent W. New

bwnew@prairiemountainmedia.com

LAFAYETTE >> Parker Brown’s 74th minute goal sent Silver Creek’s boys soccer team past Centaurus on Monday night at Spangenberg Field and into its first-ever state semifinal.

So, how do you celebrate the biggest goal in program history?

“A really exciting play but I got to go to school tomorrow,” the sophomore said moments after his team’s 2-1 win. “Got to get my homework in.”

One assignment completed. Another awaits. The 4A No. 5 Raptors find themselves in a similar place, with less than 48 hours to revel in their comeback win over the fourth-ranked Warriors before facing No. 1 Mullen on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The 4A semifinals will be held at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood.

“We just keep battling,” Brown said. “We think we’re up there as (one of the) top contenders in the state. We just gotta keep fighting.”

That fight-on mentality continues to be the theme for Silver Creek (12-2-3), which was without three starters when Brown broke the 1-1 tie late in regulation.

Off a corner from Brian Kim, Parker’s right-footed shot from inside the box narrowly crossed the goal line to give the Raptors their first lead of the night with 6:11 left in regulation.

On it, Luke Ackerman did his best to deny it as Centaurus’ last line of defense. The junior kept a would-be goal out in the opening half on a similar setup, but was knocked too far back on Brown’s winner.

“It wasn’t our day, in the second half especially,” said Centaurus coach David Wood, who came just short of reaching the semifinals for a second straight season. “All season we’ve played well and we’ve had a lot to be proud of.”

The teams, 2 1/2 weeks since they played to a scoreless draw and finished with identical records atop the 4A/3A Granite Peaks League, traded goals in a back-and-forth opening half.

Liam Dols was on the far-right side of the box in the 6th minute when he redirected a 40-yard free kick from Carter Ochsner into the opposite corner of the net for the Warriors (11-4-3). It was Dols’ seventh goal of the season and second in these playoffs.

The Raptors responded in the 29th. Rien Pacaro’s shot from a few feet outside the box clipped a defender and tied up keeper Nicholas Jones, who went left before diving back to his right. It was the junior’s third goal of the season.

Brown’s winner came a game after he scored in overtime to push the Raptors past Niwot in the second round.

“We’ve just talked about having heart and these guys just work,” said Silver Creek coach Rob Johnson, whose program has been a consistent winner since he took over in 2016. But this is new ground. “This group never gives up. We train that. Find a way to win. Find a way to win.”

Every classification will play its semifinals on Wednesday. The winners will head to Weidner Field in Colorado Springs for Saturday’s finals.

The 4A championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m.