HIGHLANDS RANCH | The lights finally went out on Vista PEAK’s season Wednesday night, but not before the lights went out, literally.
With the 23rd-seeded Bison trailing 1-0 with a little more than five minutes left in their Class 4A boys state soccer first round playoff contest, Valor Christian’s stadium went black.
When the lights finally went back on and the teams returned to the pitch, there was no Super Bowl-like comeback for coach Jason Elliott’s group, which fell to the 10th-seeded Eagles to finish the season 10-6. Valor Christian (11-5) advanced to a second round matchup against No. 7 Evergreen on Oct. 29.
The break that really hurt Vista PEAK came in the middle of the game, as halftime interrupted the longest stretch of momentum the Bison.
Weathering an early surge from Valor Christian — including a massive save by sophomore goalkeeper Alan Islas on a rising shot by Josh Floyde — Vista PEAK went on the attack in the last 10 minutes of the opening half. Junior striker Jose Ayala’s speed on the edge earned the free kick chance deep in the Eagles’ end and Alfredo Velazquez got his head on a free kick serve from Jason Camey that went wide.
The lone goal of the game came in the 72nd minute when Vista PEAK cleared yet another corner kick serve by Valor Christian — one of eight on the night — but the Eagles’ Ian Thomas lofted a high ball that came down in a crowd in front of the goal box.
A Vista PEAK defender got a head on the ball, but it bounced around and Islas tried to swat it away, but Valor Christian’s Paul Grizzle — who aggressively crashed the goal box all game — poked it into the net.
A little more than two minutes later, with the Bison trying desperately to get the equalizer, the stadium’s lights all went out at once save for those on the scoreboard and those in the press box.
The teams left the pitch and resumed the game a little more than 15 minutes later, with Valor Christian managing to hold off Vista PEAK’s final push.
Despite the loss, there was plenty of positives for the Bison in their second varsity season.
Elliott’s team won a share of the Colorado 7 League championship — finishing in a tie with Fort Lupton and Skyview atop the standings — broke into double figures in the win column for the first time and went into the playoffs seeded six spots higher than the previous season, when Vista PEAK lost 4-0 to Mullen to open the postseason.
(10) VALOR CHRISTIAN 1, (23) VISTA PEAK
Score by halves:
Vista PEAK 0 0 — 0
Valor Christian 0 1 — 1
SCORING
Second half
Valor Christian — Paul Grizzle (Ian Thomas), 72nd minute
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel.
