With Saturday being the final day of the regular season in girls soccer, much remains undetermined.
For the fate of a program like Canon City, the 4A No. 32 Tigers could head into next week with a spot in the postseason and a league title in hand. Or their offseason could begin as soon as Sunday.
For this week’s look-in on the sport, let’s take a look at a few unresolved scenarios across all classifications. The postseason begins May 6-8, with 32-team fields in 5A-3A and a 24-team bracket in 2A.
The final postseason spot?
Class 5A: No. 32 Liberty (7-4-2), No. 33 Mountain Range (9-3) and No. 34 Vista Ridge (8-6).
The Lancers are currently the last team in 5A’s 32-team playoff projection, with the No. 33 Mustangs and No. 34 Wolves just fractions of a point behind.
After opening the season winless through its first five games, Liberty won seven straight before it lost to No. 9 Pine Creek on Thursday, 3-1. Left for the Lancers is 4A No. 8 Rampart on Tuesday and No. 17 Pueblo West on Thursday.
On their tail, Mountain Range stayed in the postseason mix after Mikayla Ledbetter’s seventh goal of the spring stood up in a 1-0 win over 5A No. 39 Brighton on Monday. The Mustangs will likely need to win their final two games of the season to give them a chance at surpassing Liberty for the No. 32 spot. They face No. 36 Prairie View on Tuesday and No. 54 Westminster on Thursday.
For No. 34 Vista Ridge to pass them both, the Wolves will probably need to win their final game of the regular season — No. 49 Doherty on Thursday — and get a lot of help.
No. 31 Fort Collins has some breathing room but is also on the bubble.
Class 4A: No. 32 Canon City (4-6-3), No. 33 Silver Creek (7-6-1) and No. 34 Littleton (6-5-1).
Canon City and Silver Creek are more or less tied in the rankings at No. 32. With an ever-so slight lead, the Tigers jumped back into the playoff picture this spring after they went unbeaten over their last four games.
At 2-0-1 in the 4A Colorado Springs Metro League, Canon City looks as if it would win its league title, which comes with a guaranteed spot in the playoffs, if closes its regular season with wins over No. 45 Widefield on Wednesday and No. 26 Palmer on Friday.
At No. 33, the Raptors are going to get at least a strength-of-schedule boost from their regular-season finale at No. 7 Mead on Tuesday. A win against the Mavericks, meanwhile, would very likely get them in.
Littleton, at No. 34, has a promising closing slate of its own, with games against No. 27 D’Evelyn, No. 2 Green Mountain and No. 9 Golden left to improve its standing.
No. 30 Centaurus and No. 31 Mountain View have some distance on the No. 32 spot but are both on the bubble.
Class 3A: No. 32 Pagosa Springs (4-5), No. 33 Bennett (6-6-1) and No. 34 Aspen (6-4-1).
Elizabeth Currier has scored all of her team-leading eight goals in Pagosa Springs’ three wins in April, helping move the Pirates into the No. 32 spot.
The Pirates, along with Bennett and Aspen in pursuit, all came into the week with three games remaining.
Aspen may have the best chance at a large leap in the rankings with No. 3 Delta on Tuesday and No. 16 Vail Mountain on Thursday.
No. 31 Academy is also on the bubble, though it has some distance on Pagosa Springs in the rankings and a game against No. 23 St. Mary’s Academy remaining.
Class 2A: No. 24 Bruce Randolph (5-8), No. 25 Addenbrooke Classical Academy (5-8) and No. 26 Banning Lewis Academy (4-8-1).
Bruce Randolph should have control of its own postseason fate, with a home game against 3A No. 25 Regis Groff on Tuesday followed by an undetermined crossover 3A/2A City East League game on Thursday.
Addenbrooke could make things interesting with a remaining schedule that includes Regis Groff, 2A No. 34 Twin Peaks Charter and No. 22 Bishop Machebeuf.
Banning Lewis Academy, meanwhile, after falling to No. 12 Front Range Christian on Monday, has No. 31 St. Mary’s and No. 9 Salida left.
League races
5A Granite Peaks League: No. 7 Legacy is up a half game on No. 11 Broomfield and No. 12 Fairview.
The Lightning (8-1-2, 2-0-1 5A GPL) beat Fairview (8-3, 2-1), 3-2, behind two goals from freshman Anaya Bursey last week, taking sole control of the league lead.
On Tuesday, Legacy will visit Broomfield (7-4-2, 2-1), which welcomed back star sophomore Marin Kotschau from her call-up to Team USA’s under-age 16 squad as the Eagles bounced back from their loss to Fairview on April 17 with shutout wins over No. 20 Horizon and No. 42 Monarch last week.
Fairview, meanwhile, followed up its loss to Legacy on Tuesday with a four-goal win over No. 19 Erie on Thursday.
5A/4A Colorado Springs Metro League: 4A No. 8 Rampart (8-2-2, 4-0) and 5A No. 9 Pine Creek (9-1-1, 4-0) are tied atop the league standings with two CSML games remaining.
For what could decide the league title, the Rams and Eagles play at District 20 Stadium on Thursday.
5A No. 32 Liberty and 4A No. 17 Pueblo West are a game back in the standings.
5A/4A Continental League: No. 2 Mountain Vista (11-1-1, 7-1-1), No. 14 Rock Canyon (9-2-2, 6-1-2) and No. 17 Regis Jesuit (7-4-2, 6-1-2) appear to all be in play for the league crown.
Mountain Vista hosts Regis Jesuit on Wednesday. A win for the Golden Eagles should lock things up. A Regis win, however, could pave the way to make for a messy, three-way tiebreaker alongside Rock Canyon. The Jaguars beat Mountain Vista and tied Regis this spring. They finish league play against No. 27 Legend on Wednesday.
3A/2A Metro League: No. 1 Colorado Academy (10-1-2) can clinch the No. 1 seed and a league title this week.
With wins against both No. 5 Jefferson Academy (9-4, 7-1) and No. 2 Kent Denver (11-2, 7-1), the Mustangs appear to need just one more win to seal up a league title – either against No. 4 Prospect Ridge Academy on Tuesday or No. 9 Stargate School on Thursday.
Any CA loss, however, would open the door for Kent Denver to make a run at 3A’s top seed. The Sun Devils close against JA and No. 10 Peak to Peak.