Lakewood — In terms of goals this season, the Chatfield Chargers had been squeezing water from a rock.
They picked the right time Wednesday to kick the habit.
Behind a physical possession game and strong play on the flanks, the Chargers erupted early and kept flowing in a 6-0 victory over Coronado in the first round of boys soccer’s Class 5A state tournament at Lakewood Memorial Field.
The Chargers (12-2-2), seeded No. 6 in the 32-team bracket, scored even amounts in each half, converted two penalty kicks and shined away any rust in preparation for Saturday’s second-round matchup against No. 11 Cherry Creek (10-4-2).
“That’s usually the story with our team, one goal and it gets us on a roll,” Chatfield junior Ryan Rombach said. “All year, (coach) Paul (Moline) has been talking about how we can’t have just one guy that’s our offense, we need to spread the ball around.”
Ryan Rombach scored twice, his first in the 10th minute, and the Chargers added goals by Jake Meyer and Jake Wolford and converted penalty kicks by Dennis Shannon and Zach Foxhoven to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games.
“We knew we had to step up because our season wasn’t going the way we planned it to go,” Wolford said. “We just started playing better and once we get going we tend to keep that.”
The 27th-seeded Cougars (7-9) were on their heels early and struggled to maintain possession — especially on the edges, where the faster Chargers were content to play the ball. Coronado didn’t register a shot until the second half and lost starting goalkeeper Andrew Busovsky after 56 minutes to a red card.
“We came up here expecting to win,” longtime Cougars coach Matt Brickell said. “Things just didn’t go right for us.”
The shutout was Chatfield’s 12th of the season.
Rombach drew first blood when his run down the far side was rewarded with a long knifing pass from Billy LaGreca. Rombach got the ball in step, powered through defender Alex Garvert and had it settle at his feet for a quick finish.
A foul during a free kick led to a called penalty and a yellow card to Busovsky for dissent. Backup goalie Brett Johnson came in and was beaten by Shannon to his right side.
Chatfield made it 3-0 eight minutes before halftime on a side-footed shot by Meyer and made it 4-0 less than a minute into the second half on Rombach’s second goal.
The Cougars registered their first shot early in the second half and their first scoring chance came in the 46th minute on a free kick by Simon Plass. Plass bent his 31-yard shot toward the near post and had it deflect off the crossbar.
Foxhoven made it 5-0 with a converted penalty kick in the 56th minute, 40 seconds before Busovsky was sent off for his second yellow card for dissent. Wolford capped the rout with an acrobatic full-speed finish on a cross by Dylan Hall.
Coronado0 0 — 0
Chatfield3 3 — 6
Goals — Rombach (unassisted), 10th minute; Shannon (penalty kick), 26th; Meyer (Foxhoven), 32nd; Rombach (unassisted), 41st; Foxhoven (penalty kick), 56th; Wolford (Hall), 72nd.
Shots on goal — Coronado 0-5 — 5; Chatfield 6-6 — 12.
Saves — Coronado (Busovsky 55 minutes, Johnson 25) 3-3 — 6; Chatfield (Bissau, 50 minutes, Ringstrand 30) 0-5 — 5. Offsides — Coronado 0-0 — 0; Chatfield 2-1 — 3. Corner kicks — Coronado 0-0 — 0; Chatfield 2-4 — 6. Fouls — Coronado 7-5 — 12; Chatfield 6-4 — 10. Yellow cards — Busovsky, Cor., 26th minute; Knychalla, Cor., 32nd. Red card — Busovsky, 56th minute.
