Thornton – Every team wants to be playing its best soccer during the state tournament.
Fort Collins is just glad to finally have its best players on the pitch.
The ninth-seeded Lambkins outclassed Front Range League rival Horizon in the midfield and held on for a 3-2 victory Saturday in the second round of the Class 5A boys tournament at Five Star Stadium.
Fort Collins, which improved to 11-3-3, got two goals from midfielder Collin Audley and one from Ryan O’Connell to extend its unbeaten streak to 11 games.
The Lambkins will face top-seeded Chatfield in the quarterfinals, to be completed by Thursday.
The Lambkins welcomed back two players at the end of the regular season, most noticeably midfielder Edgar Ramirez, a key cog in their fluid midfield attack.
“It’s probably one of the best midfields in the state,” Audley said. “I thought we played great defense and transitioned better than them and worked harder than them and finished our opportunities.”
The eighth-seeded Hawks (12-4-1), who tied Fort Collins 1-1 during the regular season, got goals from Nicholas Cardenas and Jeremy Howlan.
“You can’t hang your head when you lose to a team that played better than you for most the game,” Horizon coach Art Drotar said. “We aren’t a talented 11 as other schools, but we have three or four very talented players that we rode all year.”
Lambkins sophomore Alexander Deitz had the dubious task of man-marking Cardenas. Deitz was getting a breather when Cardenas scored and gave up a penalty as he tackled Cardenas in the penalty area in the 69th minute.
“They play their whole offense through him,” Deitz said of Cardenas. “You can’t let him win it in the air too often because he’s probably the best player in the air in the state.”
The Lambkins struck first, when Jordan Dahlinger forced a turnover and charged on goal down the right side. Dahlinger tapped a pass to O’Connell, who cut inside and drove a low shot past Horizon goalie Justin Frayser.
The Hawks equalized less than two minutes later on a free kick by Howlan.
Howlan tried to find Cardenas in the box. But the ball was played wide, where freshman Koobhmoov Vang tapped it back for Cardenas to blast into the roof of the net.
The Lambkins were up 3-1 on consecutive goals by Audley, who scored in the 39th and 50th minutes.
Fort Collins outshot the Hawks 6-2 in the second half.
Horizon was whistled for 23 fouls, three yellow cards and one “soft” red card to Michael Martinez.
Fort Collins 2 1 – 3
Horizon 1 1 – 2
Goals – FC: O’Connell (Dahlinger), 22nd minute; H: Cardenas (Vang), 24th; FC: Audley (unassisted), 39th; FC: Audley (Geisert), 56th; H: Howlan (unassisted), 69th.
Shots on goal – Fort Collins 4-6 – 10; Horizon 3-2 – 5. Saves – Fort Collins (Martin) 1-1 – 2; Horizon (Frayser 79 minutes, Gilliard 1) 2-3 – 5.
Offsides – Fort Collins 2-1 – 3; Horizon 0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Fort Collins 2-2 – 4; Horizon 4-0 – 4.
Fouls – Fort Collins 8-7 – 15; Horizon 8-15 – 23. Yellow card – Martinez, H, 39th minute; Howland, H, 50th; Frayser, H, 65th; Marquez, H, 67th. Red card – Martinez, H, 65th minuite
