It’s no secret that the BoCoPreps coverage area has been a hotbed for both boys and girls prep soccer over the past few years.

One of the catalysts behind that trend, former Broomfield coach Jim Davidson, just retired from the girls’ side of the high school soccer scene, a few years after hanging up his whistle on the boys’ side. His successor, Zach Hindman, led the Eagles to a Class 5A state championship in 2023, in just his second year at the helm of the program.

Last fall, the Eagles fell to Cherry Creek in the title game after ousting Boulder, 2-1, in the semifinals. Class 3A was even more exciting for the local soccer scene, with Holy Family, Jefferson Academy and Peak to Peak all gracing the semis round. Holy Family eventually defeated JA in a 1-0 overtime thriller the claim the 3A crown.

With all the excitement of last fall, it begs the question: what’s next?

In this edition of our Fall ‘Four’cast, let’s dive into four soccer storylines we’re excited to see play out.

Storyline 1: Mass exodus

A year before their run to the 3A state title, the Holy Family Tigers strung together just three victories. The biggest change last season, perhaps, was the man in charge. Head coach Ted Hansen came into his first year with the program not with a chisel and a hammer, but with a bulldozer. He rebuilt the culture from the ground up and leaned on his vast senior class to do much of the heavy lifting. They delivered a 16-2-2 record and a lasting legacy — the first Holy Family team to ever raise a banner in the sport.

Then-senior Jesus Molina delivered the dagger in overtime to defeat the Jaguars, while classmate Joseph Sullivan took on the majority of the goalkeeping responsibilities. The Tigers do, however, return their leading points-producer in rising senior Oliver Hansen, who contributed 14 goals and nine assists as a junior. The squad will look to others to step into the holes that Matthew Napierkowski (nine goals), Molina (eight) and Stefano Curto (six) left behind, though.

Storyline 2: On the prowl

Much like the Tigers, the Jaguars of Jefferson Academy experienced a tale of two seasons with two different coaches. Matt Cassell helped lead the boys to the 3A championship game in 2021, then took a one-year hiatus during the 2023 season. They didn’t win a single game that year.

His re-emergence in 2024 provided the groundwork for another storied season, this time to the tune of a 15-4-1 showing. Unlike the Tigers, the Jaguars only said goodbye to five seniors, and all three of their top scorers are eligible to return: junior Mason Spicer (17 goals), senior Dylan Bahrenburg (11) and senior Troy Brown (10).

Notably, Brown hit paydirt twice in the team’s 2-1 semifinal victory over Peak to Peak last year.

The firepower, surely, won’t be a problem for Jefferson Academy in 2025, but it will have to look elsewhere to replace its stellar keeper, Josh Neely, who made 128 saves in his final season.

Storyline 3: Where does Boulder go?

Boulder put together the dream team last fall. Not only did the Panthers return star player Xander Sevian — who went on to win the Daily Camera player of the year and Colorado Gatorade player of the year — but they welcomed a core so strong, almost nobody could take them down.

Almost nobody.

The Panthers boasted a 17-1-1 record by the end of their season, which reached its finale with a 2-1 bruising from Broomfield in the 5A state semis. The Eagles were the only team the Panthers never managed to defeat.

They accounted for Boulder’s lone tie of the season as well.

The Panthers elicited much of their scoring strength from Sevian (24 goals) and David Bojorquez (20), both of whom graduated, but they enjoyed a significant offensive push from rising senior Mikel Mackey (13) as well. While every player who is eligible to return accounted for at least one goal last season, the team will look much different without the 15 seniors of 2024.

Storyline 4: 4A fortunes

5A and 3A may have drawn the most success for the area teams in 2024, but that didn’t stop 4A locals from making plenty of noise themselves. Silver Creek ended its second-round playoff curse with a 1-0, overtime win over rival Niwot, then proceeded to award the same pleasure to Centaurus in the quarterfinals, this time by a 2-1 score.

The Raptors (12-3-3) graduated just five seniors but return one of their top scorers in rising senior Ryan Courtney, as well as chief keeper Cooper Preston.

Niwot, meanwhile, struggled a bit with its 9-6-2 record and lost 12 seniors in the process. Top scorers Colin Mundt (six goals) and Xayden Del Rio (five) are eligible to return for an encore.

Centaurus impressed with its own 11-4-3 mark a year after going 16-1-2, but it likewise bid farewell to 12 players, who made up for all but two of the Warriors’ 40 goals last year. They’ll have to make quite the adjustment to keep up to speed with the rest of the 4A scene.

Local soccer fans shouldn’t sleep on Longmont either. The Trojans defeated Summit with a 2-1, first-round playoff showing last year, thanks in large part to Charlie Sanseverino’s two-goal effort, then promptly fell to Evergreen in the second round.

They ended their run at 11-3-3, thanks in large part to their 15 seniors, but they return their best offensive weapon in Noah Chavarria (14 goals) as well as their keeper, Isaiah Sandoval (68 saves).

They’ll have some adjusting to do as well, but now they know what a playoff win tastes like.