COLORADO SPRINGS | Sawyer Berg may score bigger goals coming in his soccer career, but right now, there is an absolutely unquestioned No. 1.
That came Saturday night at Weidner Field, when the junior forward drove a rebound into the back of the net 12 seconds into overtime to lift his Regis Jesuit team to a 1-0 victory over Ralston Valley and ignite pandemonium as its first state title since 1996 had been secured.
The victory capped an undefeated season for coach Rick Wolf’s sixth-seeded Raiders (18-0-2), who survived a second-half onslaught by the top-seeded Mustangs — who were bidding for an undefeated season of their own and a first state championship — to add to the title haul for the program that also includes wins in 1991, 1992, 1995 and 1996.
“It feels like a dream to be honest, I just cannot believe it,” said Wolf, who guided Regis Jesuit to a runner-up finish in 2019. “I thought I was going to wake up. You hear people say that before and you’re like ‘yeah, whatever,’ but it’s so true. It was incredible. Unbelievable.”
When he put in the rebound from senior Kam Bachus’ initial shot, Berg became the fifth different Regis Jesuit player in as many games to produce the goal that was the game-winner in its postseason run.
Following four postseason wins in regulation — vs. No. 27 Lakewood, No. 11 Denver North, No. 3 Northfield and No. 7 Pine Creek — Regis Jesuit went to overtime for the first time against a Ralston Valley team had that been there in its last game, a shootout semifinal win over No. 12 Cherokee Trail.
Led by University of Denver commit Ethan Orchard, the Mustangs very nearly got the go-ahead goal on multiple occasions in the second half, but Raiders junior goalkeeper Marcus Huguelet and his backline were up to the job. Regis Jesuit senior Hugh Brophy ended regulation with a blast from just outside the top of the goal box that was snared by Ralston Valley keeper Ben Brown.
“Our defense has been super solid, so that’s probably the most action I’ve had, other than maybe the semifinals (against Northfield),” Huguelet said. “The second half was tough and we were getting beat up pretty bad, but the coaches kept telling us ‘all it takes is one.’ Not even a minute into overtime, we score the goal.”
Indeed, the Raiders wasted little time after they got to kick off in the extra 15-minute period.
The first two kickoffs were stopped by the referee and at the suggestion of junior Connor Barrett, Bachus started a play that saw the ball go to the left wing to sophomore Diego Torres, who found Berg, who settled the ball to Bachus for a shot with good pace that was saved by a sprawling Brown.
The ball remained loose, however, and Berg split through a pair of defenders and finished with his fourth goal of the season and first since Oct. 25.
“I played a good ball to Kam because I knew he would score,” Berg said of Bachus, who had a team-leading 12 goals. “He didn’t score, but the ball popped out right in front of me and I just knew I couldn’t miss.
“Easy to say (it was his biggest goal), it’s never going to happen again,” he added. “I’m so happy.”
When Berg’s shot hit the back of the net and the strobelights kicked on at Weidner Field, a huge Regis Jesuit student section came streaming onto the field to celebrate and had to be sent back into the stands before the championship trophy presentation.
Once they were handed the trophy from athletic director Ryan West, the Raiders had plenty of people to celebrate with.
“It’s incredible that all these people were willing to come an hour to watch us play,” Bachus said. “It really says something about how special Regis is and how special this team is. …We tried to give them something to watch all season long and we definitely did that tonight.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 5A BOYS SOCCER STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Nov. 15 at Weidner Field
(6) REGIS JESUIT 1, (1) RALSTON VALLEY 0 (OT)
Score by halves:
Regis Jesuit 0 0 1 — 1
Ralston Valley 0 0 0 — 0
SCORING
Overtime
Regis Jesuit — Sawyer Berg (Kam Bachus), 81st minute
