The Sweet 16 of the 5A Boys Soccer State Tournament was in play on Wednesday, November 1. No.16 Fossil Ridge High School went to compete in a challenging game against No. 1 Denver East on their home turf.  Regulation time ended in a 1-1 tie and after still being tied after double overtime, it went to penalty kicks.

Fossil set the tone of the game by putting the ball in the back of the net first. Quincy Carlton finished a rebound off the crossbar which was from a shot by Nathan Bergerson. Scoring the goal “was definitely exciting, probably one of my favorite memories of the year. I got super hyped up on the celebration and the adrenaline took over for the rest of the game,” Carlton said. The excitement from the Sabercat section was through the roof as they took a 1-0 lead halfway through the first half on the No.1 seeded team.

Denver East was able to tie it up before the whistle blew signaling halftime. The Angels were issued a throw-in at the 40-yard line that they played to their best player, who then dribbled through two Fossil defenders. After creating space from beating the defenders on the outside, he crossed it to an open player on the back post and the ball was put into the Sabercats’ net.

Going into halftime, the game was tied 1-1, leaving the second half to determine the winner and who would advance to the third round.

The second half was intense and full of energy as both teams were pressing to get the game winning goal. As time was winding down, Fossil had one last chance to secure the win and make the biggest upset of the state tournament. With a minute left in regulation time, Seth Anderson hammered a shot at the 20-yard line which hit off the inside of the post, inches away from claiming the win for the Sabercats.

Regulation time was over and the score was still tied 1-1, meaning it would go into two halves of overtime before continuing to penalty kicks.

Overtime was intense as both teams scrambled to capture the game winning goal. Neither team, however, was able to put one in the back of the net and the game was forced into a penalty kick shootout.

Round one of the shootout includes a sequence of 5 players from each team. The order for the Sabercats was Tyler Hause, Danny Bostock, Blair Durand, Quincy Carlton, and Seth Anderson bringing up the rear. The first round ended in a 4-4 tie with Bostock striking a powerful shot to the keeper for the Angels, and Logan Wette making an impressive save.

The following rounds for the shootout would be sudden death, putting a lot of pressure on the players yet to take their penalty kicks. James Folkestad handled the pressure with ease as he put the 5th penalty kick away in round 2. At the end of the first sudden death round, it was tied 5-5.

Wette was up next to take his kick and executed it like he was a forward, with composure. Still being tied at the end of round 3 (6-6), back-up keeper, Jack Bohl stepped up to take his kick. Like Wette’s, Bohl put the ball in the back of the net and kept the tie 7-7.

Feeling like it was going to be a never ending shootout, round 5 came around. Matthew Peyramaure was up to represent Fossil. Peyramaure was one of the only Sabercats that felt confident in his penalty kick taking abilities, which caused him to step up and take a kick. The whistle blew and Peyramaure ran up to the ball and stuck it, putting it over the goal frame, giving the win to Denver East.

Devastation was the strongest emotion felt by the Sabercats as they were inches away from causing the biggest upset of boys soccer in 2017. Tears were shed and hearts were broken. Boys soccer said goodbye to five seniors as they ended their season on Denver East’s field. “It was an unforgettable final season for me. I think making it to the second round of playoffs and almost beating the No.1 seed is something to be proud of and I sure am proud of these boys,” Anderson exclaims.