ENGLEWOOD — A little more than two months ago, Cherry Creek coach Chelo Curi was wondering how much of a contribution his Bruins would receive from their talented but inexperienced freshman class.
With a full regular season under their belts, those freshmen are coming up with big plays more frequently for the Bruins. And none of them have been bigger than the goal scored by Miguel Jaime against Boulder on Saturday in the semifinals of the Class 5A state tournament.
Jaime deftly lifted a chip shot over charging Panthers goalkeeper Murray Smith late in the second overtime, a goal that gave the No. 2-seeded Bruins a 2-1 victory and a date in Wednesday’s state title match against Mountain Vista.
“I have all the confidence in the world in all of my players, and certainly the freshmen are no exception to that,” Curi said. “I can’t call them freshmen anymore.”
Senior Dylan Slack staked Cherry Creek (15-1-3) to a 1-0 lead with a goal early in the second half, but Boulder’s Jack Huettel answered with a wicked line drive with 19:55 remaining in regulation.
Jaime was assisted by junior Karsten Hanlin.
“I was just thinking, ‘Where can I put the ball?’ ” Jaime said. “I thought it was going to miss. I thought it went over. Then it was the happiest moment of my life.”
Boulder 0 1 0 0 — 1
Cherry Creek 0 1 0 1 — 2
Goals — CC, Slack, 49:12; B, J. Huettel (DiPaula), 60:05; CC, Jaime (K. Hanlin), 104:47. Shots on goal — B 1-2-0-1—4; CC 0-4-0-1—5. Saves — B (Smith 3); CC (Barsch 3). Corner kicks — B 2-2-1-1—6; CC 3-3-0-1—7. Fouls — B 4-5-1-0—10; CC 4-4-1-2—11. Offsides — B 0-1-0-0—1; CC 0-1-1-1—3. Yellow cards — B, Assefa; CC, J. Hanlin.
Mountain Vista 4, ThunderRidge 1
Dominic Pacheco scored two goals in the first half as the top-seeded Golden Eagles remained unbeaten (18-0) while securing the school’s first berth in the state title match.
Tidiane Dia opened the scoring for the Golden Eagles with an unassisted goal in the ninth minute. Pacheco scored unassisted in the 24th minute and made it 3-0 at the break after Jordan Anner hustled to save a ball along the end line and fed Pacheco in the middle of the penalty box.
ThunderRidge 0 1 — 1
Mountain Vista 3 1 — 4
Goals — MV, Dia, 8:33; MV, Pacheco, 23:53; MV, Pacheco (Anner), 38:38; TR, Campbell, 45:00; MV, O’Donnell (Dia), 64:20. Shots on goal — TR 1-4—5; MV 5-3—8. Saves — TR (Mabry 4); MV (Obering 4). Corner kicks — TR 2-2—4; MV 1-2—3. Fouls — TR 1-1—2; MV 2-6—8. Offsides — TR 1-0—1; MV 0-0—0.
