AURORA | Five Aurora programs ended up in the Class 5A boys soccer state playoffs as the Colorado High School Activities Association issued the 32-team bracket Monday.
Among the qualifiers from the city are a pair of league champions in Aurora Central — which has a city-best 12 wins and captured the Colorado League crown — along with Regis Jesuit, which lost just one time in league play on its way to the Continental League title.
As the No. 9 seed, the Raiders will have a home game Wednesday in the opening round, as will the 13th-seeded Trojans and Cherokee Trail, which comes in seeded No. 14. Grandview received the No. 18 seed and will play away in the opening round, as will 30th-seeded Vista PEAK Prep.
Opening round winners advance to second round matchups on Oct. 31, while quarterfinal contests take place Nov. 4. The tournament shifts to CIBER Field at the University of Denver for the semifinals on Nov. 8, with the 5A state championship game scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 11 at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs.
Full Class 5A boys soccer state playoff bracket and schedule, here
Coach Rick Wolf’s Regis Jesuit team dropped a 2-0 contest against Legend on Oct. 12, but that was only time the Raiders suffered a defeat in 10 Continental League contests and only its second loss of the season (the other came at Pine Creek Oct. 7). Regis Jesuit (10-2-3) will welcome No. 24 Horizon (8-6-1) to Lou Kellogg Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. contest.
In his first season as head coach at Aurora Central, Rudy Villalobos guided the Trojans to a 12-2-1 record that includes a 9-1 mark in the Colorado League. Aurora Central enters the postseason on a seven-game winning streak and will be home to play No. 20 Fort Collins (7-5-3) in a game tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. at Aurora Public Schools Stadium.
Coach Mark Hill’s Cherokee Trail team — which was Aurora’s longest surviving team in last season’s state playoffs as it make it to the quarterfinals before it fell to eventual state champion Denver East — lost to Cherry Creek 4-2 Saturday in Centennial League play to end the regular season 9-3-3 overall. The Cougars will face a familiar opponent in a 6 p.m. opening round contest at Legacy Stadium as they will entertain No. 19 Valor Christian (7-5-3), which they lost to 2-1 back on Sept. 6.
Grandview closed the regular season with a 3-0 Centennial League win over Eaglecrest on Oct. 17, which brought coach Brian Wood’s program to 7-5-3 on the season and into fourth place in the final league standings. The Wolves head out to Recht Field at 7 p.m. to play 15th-seeded Boulder (8-4-3).
Vista PEAK Prep lost its last three games of the regular season to finish 7-6-2 and dropped it in the seedings, as coach Federico Gomez’s team ended up in third place in the final City League standings. The Bison have a 5 p.m. contest against third-seeded Rampart (11-0-4) in a game scheduled to be played at Liberty High School in Colorado Springs.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
