Fossil Ridge (8-9, 5-7 Front Range League) entered the 5A soccer state tournament as the No. 30 seed. But the Sabercats — who lost seven of eight matches to close the regular season — are now potentially 80 minutes away from a title game appearance.
As the Sabercats prepare for their showdown against conference foe Boulder (18-0, 12-0) in the 5A semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Legacy Stadium in Aurora, Denver Post preps editor Kyle Newman caught up with Fossil Ridge coach Zach Speed to discuss his team’s postseason run. Speed is in his first year as the Sabercats’ head coach, having previously served as the junior varsity and C team coach for Fossil Ridge.
:Last season we saw Mountain Vista make a run all the way to the 5A title game as a 28 seed, so what’s been the mentality for your team as this year’s Cinderella, playing in the semifinal game as a 30 seed?
:The biggest thing I told my guys is that we’ve played a lot of great teams, and you’ve just got to show up to play. Lately we’ve been doing that. Any team can win in these final games, I think, because each one has such amazing ability. But we’ve been successful in the tournament because we’ve showed up excited to play and excited for each challenge.
:Senior captain Grant Martinez is leading you with eight goals this year, but you’ve also got a bunch of other players up there on the stat sheet. Have you achieved the necessary offensive balance down the stretch of the season?
:We certainly have. A lot of players have stepped up the past few games, and we’ve been getting more goals in the tournament than we did in the regular season. Grant has been a huge leader on the team and he’s always finding ways to create chances for himself and his teammates. And also junior Blair Durand on the outside has been scoring some key goals, too.
:What’s been the difference for your team in the close games in the playoffs, considering the overtime victory over No. 3 Cherry Creek in the opening round and then subsequent one-goal wins over No. 14 Lincoln and No. 6 Arapahoe?
:The players haven’t been changing their approach. Against Cherry Creek, we played great throughout the whole game even though we let a goal in right before half, so what we’re doing is working. As long as we continue to show up, execute and maintain our composure — which we’ve done an excellent job of — then things work in our favor.
:What’s the experience of this postseason run been like for you, especially considering the roller-coaster nature of the campaign; and that last season, you were the program’s C Team coach?
:It’s been a fantastic experience, and I know at the varsity level, if you don’t show up ready to go then you’re going to get beat. We’ve lost to a lot of good teams this year, but having to be so prepared heading into every match makes it more fun for the players, coaches and the fans. And ultimately, I’m just proud of these players and how they’ve been able to turn it on when it matters the most.
:And what do this year’s playoffs say about the Front Range League, as the conference is once again in the title mix and claims three of the final four teams remaining?
:There’s no question the Front Range League is very top-notch, and our regular-season record shows that. We struggled through the midpoint in our season, and it wasn’t just because we weren’t doing things we needed to do to win — it’s because other teams were playing really great soccer.
:You lost 4-1 to Boulder on Sept. 10. What’s it going to take to have a different outcome Wednesday night and contain the explosive Panthers?
:The biggest question for everyone with Boulder is how to contain the pressure they apply and the hard work they put into the tempo of each game. So to start, we’ve just got to match their intensity; we’ve got to show up and know that this is going to be a big, physical team. We were tied 0-0 at half with them when we played during the regular season, and they came out in that second half and were able to get some goals. If we can take what we did during that first half, we’ll see results that we want.
