With the boys soccer regular season into its final days, state title-hopeful programs Northfield and Denver East will first try and lock up a league championship.
The 5A No. 2 Nighthawks (12-0-1, 5-0 5A City League) host the fourth-ranked Angels (10-1-2, 5-0) on Tuesday to try and claim the top spot in the 5A City League.
In this week’s look-in on boys soccer, let’s dive into where some league races around the state look like with the season ending on Saturday.
5A City League
Favorites: No. 2 Northfield and No. 4 Denver East.
Where things stand: The Nighthawks went to the last three 4A title games, winning two of them, before moving up to the 5A classification this fall.
So far, so good.
They’re on an eight-game winning streak and host the Angels, who have won nine straight, on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Isais Bonilla has 10 goals and three assists, one of five players with double-digit points for Northfield this fall.
5A/4A Southwestern League
Favorites: 5A No. 14 Grand Junction and 4A No. 11 Durango.
Where things stand: Grand Junction (9-2-1, 6-1-1) is in the driver’s seat after beating and drawing with the Demons (10-2-2, 7-1-1) in their season series.
Wins against Palisade on Tuesday and Fruita Monument on Friday would seal the title for the Tigers. If they slip up and Durango beats Montrose in its regular-season finale, though, the Demons would clinch.
Durango’s Dylan Burns leads the league with 13 goals and four assists.
4A City League
Favorites: No. 7 Montbello, No. 13 Regis Groff and No. 20 George Washington.
Where things stand: As far as the regular season goes, Montbello (8-0-6, 2-0-1) and George Washington (6-4-3, 2-0-1) are a half-game up on Regis Groff with league games ending on Tuesday.
Regis Groff fell to Montbello 10 days ago and will host George Washington this week.
4A/3A Granite Peaks League
Favorites: 4A No. 3 Centaurus, No. 4 Silver Creek and No. 6 Longmont.
Where things stand: Centaurus (8-3-2, 4-0-1) and Silver Creek (8-2-2, 4-0-1) are a half-game up on Longmont (10-1-2, 4-1).
The Trojans fell to the Warriors last week and will visit Silver Creek on Tuesday. The league title, however, may come down to the Silver Creek-Centaurus game on Thursday.
Longmont’s Zander Salva and Noah Chavarria are tied for the league lead in points with 31.
3A/2A Metro League
Favorites: 3A No. 2 Jefferson Academy, No. 4 Peak to Peak, No. 8 Colorado Academy, 2A No. 1 Denver Christian and No. 2 Forge Christian.
Where things stand: It could come down to the league tiebreakers.
Jefferson Academy (10-3-1, 6-2) can become the only league team with seven wins if it beats three-win Eagle Ridge Academy on Tuesday.
Peak to Peak (7-2-3, 4-1-2) and Denver Christian (9-1-3, 3-1-3) can finish with just one loss.
Colorado Academy (5-6-2, 4-2-1) and Forge Christian (10-2-2, 5-2-1), meanwhile, can each finish with six wins and just two losses.
Denver Christian’s Brady Kindig leads the league with 22 goals and 14 assists.
2A Tri-Peaks League
Who could win it: No. 4 Salida, No. 23 Colorado Springs Christian and No. 24 Vanguard.
Where things stand: Salida (9-1-3, 3-0) is comfortably in the 2A 24-team postseason picture, while CSCS and Vanguard are right on the bubble.
With an automatic qualifying spot on the line, both CSCS (7-5, 3-0) and Vanguard (5-6-2, 2-1) will get their shot at Salida this week. The Lions, meanwhile, beat the Coursers last week.
Salida’s Issac Sarmiento leads the league with 15 goals and 34 points.