AURORA — Although the faces and circumstances change, there remains one undeniable constant with the Smoky Hill Buffaloes under boys soccer coach Danny Winsor.
They flat know how to win in the playoffs.
The 10th-seeded Class 5A defending champions twice rallied from a goal down against No. 2 Rangeview before scoring the winner with eight minutes remaining in the second overtime for a 3-2 state quarterfinal victory Wednesday at Aurora Public Schools Stadium.
Sophomore Steve Cargill headed home Thomas Hrachovina’s header in the 102nd minute to put the Buffaloes (14-3-1) in the state semifinals for the fourth straight time since Winsor took over.
“I was waiting for the ball,” Cargill said.
The Raiders (15-2-1) took the lead twice on goals by Kirk Franzini and Nick Leidy, only to see the Buffaloes equalize each time on goals from Tony Rosales and Ben Lopez.
The game-winner came off a long throw-in by Kyle Venter that found Hrachovina for a glancing header that Cargill nodded home from inside the 6-yard box.
“I think the one thing is, they stay composed,” Winsor said. “You know you’re going to get a couple goals put in against great teams. We tell them that life is about 10 percent opportunity and about 90 percent how you react to it.”
Smoky Hill, which won state in 2004 as the 10th seed, will face No. 14 Durango (14-3-1) in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday at Englewood’s Pirate Stadium.
“It’s a cruel game and one team is always going to get hurt,” Raiders defender Adrian Lockett said. “Today it was just us.”
Smoky Hill 1 1 0 1 – 3
Rangeview 1 1 0 0 – 2
Goals – R: Franzini (Perez), 5th minute; SH: Rosales (Venter), 33rd; R: Leidy (Armstrong), 65th; SH: Lopez (unassisted), 68th; SH: Cargill (Hrachovina), 102nd.
Shots on goal – Smoky Hill 2-3-0-1 – 6; Rangeview 1-1-2-0 – 4. Saves – Smoky Hill (Howshar) 0-0-2-0 – 2; Rangeview (Euell) 1-2-0-0 – 3. Offsides – Smoky Hill 2-0-1-0 – 3; Range- view 0-0-0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Smoky Hill 3-2-0-0 – 5;
Rangeview 2-0-0-0 – 2. Fouls – Smoky Hill 6-4-0-1 – 11;
Rangeview 2-2-0-0 – 4. Yellow cards – None.
