COLORADO SPRINGS | Halloween aside, Marcelo Ruiz and the Cherokee Trail boys soccer team continue to haunt Rampart in the Class 5A postseason.
For the second season in a row, the Cougars eliminated the Rams in the second round of the playoffs and Ruiz was in the thick of it both times.
The senior captain converted a penalty kick to help Cherokee Trail to a 3-1 win over Rampart in last season’s postseason contest and Tuesday night at District 20 Stadium, it was his perfectly-placed free kick late in double overtime that gave his 14th-seeded team a 2-1 victory over the third-seeded Rams.
“We played them before so we were confident and we knew what we were capable of,” Ruiz said. “We were at home last year and they were home this year and seeded a lot higher, but we came in knowing that we could win if we just played our game. Right now, it’s just pure excitement.”
Coach Mark Hill’s Cherokee Trail team earned its second dramatic win of the postseason — the first came with an overtime goal from sophomore Vincent Tchoumba to beat Valor Christian in overtime, story — and moved into the Nov. 4 quarterfinals at Englewood High School. The Cougars will play No. 11 Legend — a 2-0 winner over No. 27 ThunderRidge — with a spot in the Nov. 7 semifinals on the line.
Updated Class 5A boys soccer state playoff scoreboard and schedule, here
Rampart — which defeated another Aurora team, No. 30 Vista PEAK Prep, in the opening round — hadn’t loss since Cherokee Trail beat it in last season’s playoffs and finished the season 12-1-4.
The Rams got on the scoreboard first in the opening half on a set piece, just like they had in the 2022 meeting.
A corner kick service from Aiden Casperson was put away by Sebastian Gorbea in the 21st minute, but that’s all the Rams would come up with offensively in the contest, which lasted more than 100 minutes.
Down 1-0 at halftime, Ruiz said there was no panic and the Cougars just talked about limiting set piece opportunities — which appeared to be a major strength for Rampart — while they believed the offense would eventually break through.
“We knew the capabilities of our players, so we knew were going to score eventually,” he said. “We just decided not to rush anything and we had the whole second half ahead of us, so we played with confidence and knew we would get the goal.”
Indeed, the tying goal came in the 54th minute from senior Bentley Sutherland-Arreola.
Junior Peter Eugenio settled a ball that came off the head of a teammate and with a quick touch chipped it to Sutherland-Arreola, who raced past two Rampart defenders and struck a left-footed shot that hugged the ground and made it just past Rams’ keeper Tegan Derickson and inside the far post. It was Sutherland-Arreola’s team-leading ninth goal and his first since a score against Overland Oct. 17.
That would be it for scoring for quite some time, as neither team tallied in the first overtime period and were just over four minutes away from a shootout when a tripping call — which came when a Rampart player took out sophomore Derek Seymour — gave the Cougars a free kick.
Ruiz took the kick from a little over 40 yards out and lofted it over the top of the pack of players looking for a rebound and it dropped down just under the crossbar and over Derickson’s head, which sent Cherokee Trail players into hysterics and sent Rampart players crumpled to the turf.
“I didn’t expect it to result in a goal off the shot, I just thought maybe the keeper drops it and maybe we get a rebound,” Ruiz said. “At the beginning of the kick, I thought I hit it too high and too far, then I saw it drop at the end. Then it dropped right out of the keeper’s hands and I saw it hit the back of the net and it was just pure excitement.”
Ruiz also believes the Cougars — who graduated just five seniors — have the experience and knowledge to handle the quarterfinal appearance better than in 2022, when they lost 5-0 to eventual state champion Denver East.
Aurora teams finished 2-1 in the second round, as ninth-seeded Regis Jesuit also emerged victorious with a one-goal win over No. 8 Cherry Creek, while No. 13 Aurora Central had its run ended with 2-0 loss at No. 4 Denver East.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 CLASS 5A BOYS SOCCER PLAYOFFS (2nd round)
Oct. 31 at District 20 Stadium
(14) CHEROKEE TRAIL 2, (3) RAMPART 1 (2OT)
Score by halves:
Cherokee Trail 0 1 0 1 — 2
Rampart 1 0 0 0 — 1
SCORING
First half
Rampart — Sebastian Gorbea (Aiden Casperson), 21st minute
Second half
Cherokee Trail — Bentley Sutherland-Arreola (Peter Eugenio), 54th minute
Second overtime
Cherokee Trail — Marcelo Ruiz, 106th minute
