AURORA | The city’s presence in the Class 5A boys state soccer playoffs got cut drastically Friday, as only two of the six Aurora teams in action came out on top.
Sixth-seeded Regis Jesuit and seventh-seeded Grandview both defended their home fields against No. 27 Bear Creek and No. 26 Poudre, respectively.
No. 20 Aurora Central and No. 21 Rangeview both had one-goal leads for at least a short time in the second half against No. 13 Rocky Mountain and No. 12 Arapahoe, respectively, but both ended up on the short end of overtime decisions, while No. 25 Smoky Hill and No. 29 Gateway fell by multiple goals to highly-seeded opponents on the road.
No. 23 Eaglecrest completes the first round for Aurora teams with a 1 p.m. Saturday contest at Douglas County Stadium against No. 10 Castle View. The Raptors-SaberCats winner moves on to face Grandview, while Regis Jesuit’s second round opponent is also unknown as No. 22 Liberty and No. 11 Denver East play Saturday.
Here’s a look at how things went for Aurora teams Friday:
(6) REGIS JESUIT 6, (27) BEAR CREEK 0
The Raiders scored four times in the first half and two more times in the second half to post a result that ranked as the most lopsided of any in the opening round thus far.
Senior Luke Galan — who had five goals all season coming into the game — rank up a hat trick, while seniors John Krupanszky and Casey McCloskey and sophomore Nico Correa also scored as coach Rick Wolf’s team improved to 13-1-2.
The Raiders stretched their shutout streak to a sixth straight game.
(7) GRANDVIEW 1, (26) POUDRE 0
Grandview and Poudre played into halftime in a scoreless deadlock before senior Ivan Luna tallied what proved to be the only goal in the second half.
Sophomore Charlie Lucero picked up the assist on Luna’s goal and senior Jacob George saved all five shots on goal as the Wolves posted its second shutout in the last three games.
Coach Brian Wood’s Grandview team improved to 11-3-2 overall and will be at home again for the second round against the winner of Saturday’s contest between 10th-seeded Castle View and 23rd-seeded Eaglecrest.
(12) ARAPAHOE 2, (21) RANGEVIEW 1 (OT)
The underdog Raiders struck first in their visit to Littleton Public Schools Stadium on a goal by junior striker Erik Cerna in the opening minute, but the 2018 state champions tied it up early in the second half and won it in overtime.
Rangeview preserved the lead until the 48th minute when Arapahoe’s Aiden Kirk scored the equalizer when the Raiders were unable to clear a loose ball in front of their goal.
Some dangerous chances created by senior Rashid Seidu-Aroza never resulted in another goal for Rangeview and Sam Myers gave the Warriors the win with a golden goal in overtime. Coach Vic Strouse’s Raiders finished the season 11-4-1.
(13) ROCKY MOUNTAIN 2, (20) AURORA CENTRAL 1 (OT)
EMAC champion Aurora Central had favored Rocky Mountain on the ropes at French Field in Fort Collins before the Lobos rallied to tie the score in regulation and come up with the golden goal winner in overtime.
Junior Jose Bucio had another big goal for coach Dorgham Alkabi’s Trojans, as he converted on a pass from junior Diego Mendoza for the lead with just 15 minutes remaining in regulation.
Rocky Mountain answered seven minutes later, however, and scored again less than two minutes into the first extra session to end the game. Aurora Central finished 11-5.
(8) FAIRVIEW 3, (25) SMOKY HILL 0
Playing in its first 5A state playoff game since 2015, Smoky Hill fell behind homestanding Fairview just over five minutes into the game, trailed 3-0 at halftime and never caught up.
Coach Scott Gardner’s team saw its season come to an end at 7-8-1 overall.
(4) ARVADA WEST 3, (29) GATEWAY 1
Gateway fell in a two-goal hole just 15 minutes into play against favored Arvada West at the North Area Athletic Complex, cut the deficit to one before halftime and yielded another score late to see its season come to an end.
Senior Winston Franco del Cid scored for coach Alejandro Garcia’s Olys in the 34th minute make it a 2-1 game at the break, but the Wildcats put it away with a goal in the 76th minute.
Gateway finished 10-6 in the first season under Garcia.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports