Englewood – Jarrod Wiggins just keeps delivering for Denver Christian.
Already with two goals in the Class 3A state soccer playoffs, the senior forward was back for more Thursday at Englewood High School’s Pirates Stadium. But even he was surprised at how easy his final touch was.
Wiggins pinballed his way through the Aspen defense and found himself alone with the ball and an empty net in the 11th minute.
“It was very surprising. I was afraid I was going to shank it high,” Wiggins said.
Turns out, there was nothing to fear as Wiggins buried the sitter and the ninth-seeded Crusaders (13-3-2) advanced to the state final with a 2-1 victory.
Wiggins assisted on Joe Lammer’s opener in the ninth minute before the fifth-seeded Skiers (15-3) got a goal from Baker Boyd in the 23rd minute. That set up a frantic finish as both teams attacked well and narrowly missed a number of goals.
“They had good ball skills and they had speed and played a nice game,” Crusaders coach Ed Buteyn said of the Skiers.
The Crusaders, state champions in 1997, will get a rematch with Metropolitan League rival and three-time champion Faith Christian in Saturday’s final. The teams played to a 1-1 draw during the regular season.
The Crusaders had just two shots in the first half Thursday night, but both found the back of the net.
Lammers caught Aspen goalie Andy Conarroe out of position in the ninth minute and scored from well outside the penalty area with a looping shot.
Aspen pulled itself back to the table with better possession and linking play out of the midfield before getting a goal back in the 23rd minute.
Jesus Mesa broke free down the left side, carried the ball nearly to the end line and fired a low cross into the penalty area. The ball deflected out to the top of the penalty area, where Boyd collected it, took two touches and fired it home.
The Skiers never wavered in the second half but couldn’t find the equalizer. Stephen Buzbee had the best chance in the 65th minute but couldn’t get a foot on a ball just outside the Crusaders’ 6-yard box.
Denver Christian 2 0 – 2
Aspen 1 0 – 1
Goals – DC: Lammers (Wiggins), 9th minute; Wiggins (unassisted), 11th; A: Boyd (unassisted), 23rd.
Shots on goal – Denver Christian 2-2 – 4; Aspen 3-0 – 3. Saves – Denver Christian (Lanser) 2-0 – 2; Aspen (Conarroe) 0-2 – 2. Offsides – Denver Christian 0-1 – 1; Aspen 0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Denver Christian 1-0 – 1; Aspen 0-1 – 1. Fouls – Denver Christian 7-7 – 14; Aspen 4-3 – 7. Yellow cards – Ellsworth, DC, 34th minute; Boyd, A, 48th; Wiggins, DC, 51st.
