DENVER | The Cherokee Trail boys soccer team came less than two minutes of playing for the Class 5A state championship for the first time before disaster struck.
In a Nov. 11 contest at CIBER Field at the University of Denver, the 12th-seeded Cougars were poised to knock off top-seeded and undefeated Ralston Valley with a goal lead — courtesy of senior Derek Seymour — and less than two minutes left when Mustangs’ star Ethan Orchard got in close and tied it.
After two scoreless overtime periods, Ralston Valley would go on to prevail with a 3-1 advantage in a shootout and move into the state championship game. Coach Mark Hill’s Cherokee Trail senior-heavy team — which appeared in the semifinals for the second time in three seasons — finished 12-4-3.
“We definitely made a lot of memories (in the playoffs), but this one is going to sting for a little bit,” said midfielder Caleb Burgess, one of 14 seniors on the squad.
An all-Aurora area final against sixth-seeded Regis Jesuit loomed as a definite possibility when Seymour — who scored the game-winner in double overtime against No. 4 Legacy in the quarterfinals (see story, here) — buried a short shot after a pass from senior Isaac Wells in the 67th minute.
Junior goalkeeper Forrest Cornett did yeoman’s work to deny Ralston Valley’s attempt to equalize, including a left-footed save on a point blank open shot by Henry Brisson with just over three minutes remaining.
But a failure to clear a minute and a half later put the ball in dangerous position on the foot of the Mustangs’ Sawyer Lee, who touched it to Orchard, who broke through traffic and found the net with his 17th goal of the season.
“We were grinding at the end, but all it takes is one lapse of concentration and that happened to us,” Burgess said.
Five minutes into the first overtime, Burgess nearly sent Cherokee Trail to its first final when he lobbed a shot that glanced off the far post with an empty net and deflected down and on top of the goal line before it was corralled by Mustangs’ keeper Ben Brown.
After the end of a second 15-minute overtime, the game progressed to a shootout and though the Cougars had prevailed over fifth-seeded Denver East on kicks in the second round, they only put one of four attempts past Brown.
Burgess opened with a conversion, but Brown made diving saves on shots by Wells and senior Mason Robledo, while senior Ben Lewandowski pushed his try over the goal.
Orchard, Noah Kaputska and Dylan Chambers also managed to convert on shots into the bottom left corner of the net to give Ralston Valley the victory.
It marked the second semifinal trip for the program in three seasons, following an overtime loss to Broomfield in the Final Four in 2023.
“We’re just laying a foundation and eventually we’re going to get one,” Burgess said.
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 SEMIFINALS
Nov. 11 at CIBER Field, University of Denver
(1) RALSTON VALLEY 1, (12) CHEROKEE TRAIL 1 (Ralston Valley wins in SO)
Score by halves (shootout):
Cherokee Trail 0 1 0 0 (1) — 1
Ralston Valley 0 1 0 0 (3) — 1
SCORING
Second half
Cherokee Trail — Derek Seymour (Isaac Wells), 67th minute
Ralston Valley — Ethan Orchard (Sawyer Lee), 78th minute
