AURORA | Boulder continues to strengthen its position as the Smoky Hill boys soccer team’s chief nemesis.
For the second time in three seasons, the Panthers dashed the Buffaloes dreams of winning a Class 5A state championship. In 2012, Boulder topped Smoky Hill in the 5A state final and Wednesday night stopped them short of a chance at it with a 2-0 semifinal at Legacy Stadium.
The third-seeded Panthers (15-1-3) scored once in each half to earn a trip Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. 5A final at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, where they will face fellow Front Range League team Broomfield. The 12th-seeded Eagles — in their first season in 5A — bested No. 8 Fairview 2-1 in overtime in the other semifinal.
To give her team a chance for some redemption against Boulder, Smoky Hill coach Kersten Mullan scheduled the Panthers for the Buffs’ opening game of the 2014 season and it went as hoped, as Smoky Hill posted a cathartic 2-1 victory. The loss stands as the only one of the year so far for Boulder.
But the postseason rematch went a different way, as the second-seeded Buffaloes’ high-powered offense couldn’t solve the often-impenetrable Panthers’ defense despite several flurries of pressure in both halves.
Smoky Hill had scored 18 goals in playoffs wins against Lincoln (11-1), Ralston Valley (3-0) and Pine Creek (4-1), but couldn’t find the back of the net to be shut out for just the second time in 19 games. The other shutout came to No. 1 overall seed Rock Canyon on Sept. 13 with the Buffs at less than full strength.
Boulder, meanwhile, has allowed just one goal its past nine games overall and just 11 for the entire season in 19 contests.
The Panthers withstood Smoky Hill’s early pressure and broke through themselves with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half when midfielder Matthew Radzihovsky tallied his first goal of the season.
Boulder got the next goal of the game as well in the midst of a chippy second half when Jaime Astorga finished a Samuel Kirk pass in the 59th minute.
The loss marked the end of the careers of a massive group of 12 seniors for Smoky Hill, many of who had been around for the team’s 5-9-1 record in Mullan’s first season in 2011. The group helped turn the program into one that has won the Centennial League championship in three straight years — including a perfect 7-0 run this season — and posted a 45-8-3 mark in that span.
The Buffaloes will have holes to fill all over the field, but will especially need to develop more offensive firepower next season.
Smoky Hill graduates both of its double-digit goal scorers in Kevin Del Mazo (18 goals, 14 assists) and Walter Prince (13 goals, 8 assists) and a total of players who accounted for 85 percent of its 5A-best 74 goals this season.
Junior Nathan Kauffman — who had a playoff hat trick and scored eight times for the season — is the lone returning player with more than a single goal to his credit, while the Buffaloes also need to replace Andrew Franceschi in the goal and a backline anchored by Kevin Edgar and Colton Ladyga.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
(3) BOULDER 2, (2) SMOKY HILL 0
Score by halves:
Boulder 1 1 — 2
Smoky Hill 0 0 — 0
SCORING
First half
Boulder — Matthew Radzihovsky, 30th minute
Second half
Boulder — Jamie Astorga (Samuel Kirk), 59th minute