The run for a state title in the Class 5A boys soccer season should also feature pretty good competition in the individual goals race this fall.

High school soccer’s answer to the 1998 home run chase — this is probably not it (certainly less unresolved controversy is expected). But goals are fun and also kind of wonderfully pure (that’s why soccer celebrations are a chase to give a big hug to the player who put the ball in the net).

Last season, Poudre’s Thane Latzig was trailed by his teammates a lot. They followed him as he topped the goals’ list in Colorado’s largest class, scoring 28 of them in 16 games for the Impalas.

The senior is expected back, and as far as repeating as Colorado’s 5A Goal King, is likely to be challenged by a strong group of incoming seniors that includes Front Range League mate Cooper Stephens. Stephens led Legacy to the state semifinals last fall with game-winning goals in three straight postseason games, finishing in third in 5A goals with 23.

When dissecting last fall, Latzig and Stephens were two of only six players in 5A to score at least 20 goals (the other four graduated). It was a common breakdown in the 5A classification when looking across the last decade. The only real flux in that span was in 2019 when Rangeview’s Rashid Seidu-Aroza went on a ridiculous tear, scoring 40 goals.

In this year’s Colorado Preps high school boys soccer preview, we take a look at the numbers and all the things that can’t be recorded. From individual goal scorers to team goals set, here is how the Fall of 2022 is shaping up on the pitch.

Class 5A

It’s never encouraged to bet on high school sports, but if one did it’s important to note that the state champion in 5A has come out of either the Centennial or Front Range League the past eight seasons. Last year, it was more of the same as Centennial’s Grandview beat FRL’s Fossil Ridge in the title game 3-1.

But there are changes just ahead.

For one, all four scorers from last year’s title game graduated.

For their part, the Wolves lost a lot, including three all-state players, one being Gatorade’s Colorado player of the year Ben Beckman. In its repeat quest, they are expected to have back standout midfielder Courtney Hall a season after he was named to the classification’s all-state, second team. As a junior, he was instrumental for a club that lost two of its first three games before responding with a Centennial League title and a run through the 5A bracket.

Fossil Ridge, which also had a ton of talent go out the door, lost its top three scorers and second-team goalkeeper Alexandre Seguin. The Sabercats had finished fifth in the FRL last fall before catching fire as the 17-seed in the postseason. As the lower rank in each of their four postseason wins, among others they beat spring 2021 runner-up Cherry Creek and top-ranked Boulder en route to the title game.

Elsewhere from the 2021 all-state team, the other projected returnee is Castle View’s Antonino Piscitella. The senior had nine goals and five assists, helping lead the Castle Rock school to the semifinals.

The other big notable in the classification comes from who will not be there: Broomfield’s legendary coach, Jim Davidson. Davidson stepped away from the boys’ program after winning a Colorado-most eight titles in 11 finals appearances. He compiled a 385-59-29 career record.

Class 4A

Northfield, in its fourth season as a varsity program, went a perfect 20-0 in 2021.

From that team, the Nighthawks graduated five all-state first and second team players, including CHSAA player of the year Eduardo Hernandez. Meaning a repeat bid in all likelihood will be tougher.

In 2022, the champs have just one returning all-state player in senior midfielder Zach Liptzin. He scored 10 goals and had seven assists for a club that outscored opponents 89-10 last fall.

Other returning all-state players in the class include The Classical Academy’s Jackson Baker, who had the most 2021 goals among 4A players projected to return with 23. Southwestern League player of the year Cedar Newman of Durango is also slated to return after he was a 4A first teamer with 12 goals and an astounding 319 steals last fall.

Mullen, the classification’s runner-up, meanwhile could return a strong senior in Ethan Lehman and his 33 points from last season. Mesa Ridge’s Kaidin Reese is projected back after touting the most assists among 4A returnees, tallying 16.

Class 3A

Jefferson Academy, a program out of known soccer-haven Broomfield, was so dominant through the state semifinals round last year, a championship seemed a fitting closing statement.

True in all soccer, though, and especially true in the lower classifications of it, you never know when a lesser-known team will emerge.

Last fall, it was Roaring Fork.

A program with a name fitted for a buffet-style restaurant came out of the mountain town of Carbondale and beat the Jaguars in the state finals. From it, the Rams graduated 3A player of the year Ross Barlow and fellow first teamers Jose Mercado and Carlos Perez Rios. In 2022, they should return goals leader Emiliano Magana, who had 26 last season.

The Jaguars, in the meantime, whose coach said their 2022 goal is to first make the playoffs, “then hopefully make a deep run”, get back half their roster. Among them are speedy second-team forward Jere Davis and all-Metro League standout midfielder Jonah Elstad.

The other all-state, first-teamers projected to return are Jose Barrios of Arrupe Jesuit and Jay LaMastra of Liberty Common. Barrios had 17 goals and 13 assists as a freshman. LaMastra had eight goals, his most important coming in the second round of the postseason against DSST Conservatory to preserve what would end up being a 14-game winning streak.

Second-teamers Simeon Woldeyohannes of Colorado Academy and Fort Lupton’s Hector Morales are slated back, too. Woldeyohannes led the Mustangs to the quarterfinals with seven goals and five assists. Morales led the Bluedevils to the second round with his play in goal.

Class 2A

The state’s only player of the year able to return is Crested Butte’s Jacob Bernholtz. The then-junior scored 27 goals last fall, including one in the finals, to lift the Titans to their third title in four years.

Over the course of six months, the school located more than three hours away from Weidner Field, the site of the soccer state finals, have made it more or less their home. Bernholtz scored the go-ahead goal over Thomas McLaren in the championship game during the height of the pandemic in May of 2021, then added another in a finals win over the Lotus School for Excellence last November.

Other players from the classification’s first team returning are Fountain Valley midfielder Jordan Nunez, Lotus’ Fredy Peraza, Jayden Taylor of Heritage Christian and Thomas McLaren goalie Jeth Fogg. Nunez scored 21 goals as a freshman, Peraza had nine goals as a sophomore, Taylor’s 22 assists were second-most in the classification, and Fogg led the Highlanders to the championship game and quarterfinals as a sophomore/junior netminder.