ENGLEWOOD | Kam Bachus cupped his ear, but didn’t hear any noise from one side of the stadium at Englewood High School Saturday afternoon.
Behind him, the Regis Jesuit senior forward had created a cacophony from his own fans with his tie-breaking goal in the 53rd minute of the sixth-seeded Raiders’ Class 5A state quarterfinal matchup with No. 3 Northfield, while silence fell on the other side.
Bachus scored again with just over six minutes remaining and Regis Jesuit held on for a 3-1 victory over the Nighthawks to move into Tuesday’s semifinals.
Coach Rick Wolf’s Raiders — who also got a goal from senior Cameron Sim — will take on No. 7 Pine Creek (which knocked out 2024 state champion and second-seeded Cherry Creek) at the University of Denver.
The Raiders won the only multiple-score game of the four 5A quarterfinal contests — three of which were 1-0 decisions — with a 3-1 upset win over No. 3 Northfield.
It did not come easily, however, as Regis Jesuit found itself down a goal midway through the first half against a Nighthawks team that was flying all over the pitch.
“For us to go down a goal against a team that was putting a lot of pressure on us and slowly flip the game was big,” ]Wolf said. “It was a good showing by us to go down and fight through it, so I’m really proud of the boys.”
Flipping the game required scoring a goal to get even, which the Raiders were able to do with less than 10 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Senior defender Cameron Sim redirected junior Jackson Huguelet’s free kick service with his head and it made it through a thicket of defenders and into the net.
“They came out and punched us in the mouth and got that first one, but we bounced back,” Sim said. “It was a good ball by Jackson and I had to go up and go get it. That really started it and then Kam Bachus really followed up after that.”
Junior keeper Marcus Huguelet and the Regis Jesuit defense survived a dangerous flurry in the last 10 seconds from Northfield and went into the lockerroom buoyed with momentum.
The aforementioned Bachus moved from the midfield to a forward spot and played like a “monster” in Wolf’s words in the second half.
Buoyed by a significant Regis Jesuit presence in the stands, Bachus broke the tie in the 53rd minute. A strong bit of Regis Jesuit pressure saw junior Sawyer Berg pass the ball across the goal box, through the legs of senior Jackson Schneller to Bachus, who found control and
“My buddy Jackson (Schneller) left a perfect dummy and I thought I took too many touches at the start, but was able to put in the roof of the goal,” Bachus said. “Then I got to run over to all the fans who came out to support us. It was incredible.”
The deafening sound on one side of the stadium was countered by the quiet on the other side, which turned into virtual silence when Bachus struck again in the 73rd minute.
He broke out of a tie with senior Rory Schmeider for the team lead in goals with his 12th of the season, which came on an outstanding individual effort in which he took advantage of a Nighthawks team that was in a desperate push to equalize.
“In a game like that, you never know what can happen in those last couple of minutes, so you want to try to build the lead when you can,” Bachus said.
Regis Jesuit put the disappointment of a second round to Broomfield last season behind it to moved into the semifinals for the second time in the past three seasons.
“The roster we had last year and the talent on paper didn’t pan out in our last game,” Wolf said. “These guys probably aren’t as glitzy as that team was, but they work hard and there’s no ego. They play for each other.”
Added Sim: “This really helped boost our confidence. Whoever we play next week (Pine Creek, which upset defending champion and second-seeded Chery Creek) is going to be a really good team. We just have to go after it like we did today.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 5A BOYS SOCCER STATE PLAYOFFS (QUARTERFINALS)
Nov. 8 at Englewood High School
(6) REGIS JESUIT 3, (3) NORTHFIELD 1
Score by halves:
Regis Jesuit 1 2 — 3
Northfield 1 0 — 1
SCORING
First half
Northfield — Brody Douglass (Felix Mootz), 20th minute
Regis Jesuit — Cameron Sim (Jackson Huguelet), 30th minute
Second half
Regis Jesuit — Kam Bachus (Sawyer Berg), 53rd minute
Regis Jesuit — Bachus (Jackson Schneller), 74th minute
