AURORA | After nearly two weeks off, the Lotus School For Excellence boys soccer team overcame any rust it might have had Wednesday to advance in the Class 2A state playoffs.
In action for the first time since their regular season finale Oct. 23 thanks to a opening round bye, the seventh-seeded Meteors defended their home field with a 2-0 victory over 10th-seeded The Vanguard School to move on to the quarterfinals.
Coach Christopher Nguyen’s Lotus School For Excellence team got goals in the first half from senior Erick Ochoa and sophomore Hezekiah Yankson-Duah and made them stand up en route to a chance to play Saturday against second-seeded Skyview Academy.
In a rematch of a second round playoff game won last season by SkyView Academy, the Meteors (8-3-5) go on the road for an 11 a.m. quarterfinal against the Hawks (12-0-3) with a chance to move into the Nov. 11 semifinals at the North Stadium in Westminster.
Lotus School For Excellence has made it to at least the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the past six seasons, which includes back-to-back trips to the 2A state title game in 2021 and 2022 (losses to Crested Butte and Vail Mountain).
Against The Vanguard School — which topped No. 23 Nederland 2-1 in the opening round — the Meteors got a seventh goal of the season from Ochoa, who blistered in a shot off a pass from junior Ricardo Garcia, as well as the second of the season (and first since Sept. 29) for Yankson-Duah.
Senior keeper Diego Escoto made seven saves for the shutout for Lotus School For Excellence, which will again see a SkyView Academy team it played to a 0-0 tie Oct. 20.
Aurora area qualifiers for the 2A state playoffs both won in the second round, as eighth-seeded Vanguard Classical East prevailed over No. 9 Loveland Classical Academy 3-2.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2026 CLASS 2A BOYS SOCCER STATE PLAYOFFS
Second round, Nov. 4 at Lotus School For Excellence
(7) Lotus School For Excellence 2, (10) The Vanguard School 0
Score by halves:
The Vanguard School 0 0 — 0
Lotus School For Excellence 2 0 — 2
