AURORA | The Regis Jesuit boys soccer team came close, but could not successfully defend last season’s Class 5A state championship.
Seeded fifth, coach Rick Wolf’s Raiders (12-2-3) worked their way through three rounds to get back to the Final Four, where they dropped an agonizing 2-1 contest to top-seeded and Continental League rival Legend Tuesday night at CIBER Field at the University of Denver.
Regis Jesuit’s season ended with a 12-4-3 record, while the Titans (15-1-3) moved into the Saturday’s 6 p.m. 5A state championship game at Weidner Field in Colorado Springs, where they will face No. 6 Ralston Valley (12-4-3), a 1-0 winner over No. 7 Denver North in the other semifinal.
“It was a tough loss,” Regis Jesuit coach Rick Wolf said. “I thought we played pretty well and had some opportunities, but they are a good team. They brought the energy.”
Regis Jesuit had hoped to get to the chance to be the first 5A boys soccer team to repeat since Broomfield in 2014 and 2015, but lost a high energy contest to a team it tied 1-1 in Continental League play.
The Raiders fell behind just under eight minutes into the contest when the Titans were award a penalty kick and the attempt by Legend senior Maximus Williams snuck just by the outstretched hand of diving Regis Jesuit senior goalie Marcus Huguelet.
The deficit stood at halftime, but not for long in the second half thanks to senior Sawyer Berg, who scored the winning goal in last season’s state championship game.
Berg got into the goal box and volleyed in a cross past Legend keeper Camden Bradler to tie the score in the 46th minute.
Buoyed by the score, Regis Jesuit applied tremendous pressure as it sought the go-ahead goal, but instead ceded one with just 20 minutes left after a counterattack by the Titans, who got a finish from senior Will Winsor.
The Raiders’ desperate push to tie the game — including a shot from senior Broderick Newburn that skimmed just over the top of the crossbar — came up short.
“Pretty upset with how it ended, but all good things have to come to an end,” Berg said. “It opens your eyes a little bit. It felt really easy last year with the guys we had, but we had to grind this year. It was a very difficult journey.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2026 CLASS STATE BOYS SOCCER STATE PLAYOFFS
Semifinals, Nov. 10 at University of Denver
(1) Legend 2, (5) Regis Jesuit 1
Score by halves:
Regis Jesuit 0 1 — 1
Legend 1 1 — 2
