COLORADO SPRINGS – A planned victory celebration had to wait until Sawyer Berg could pick himself up off the turf.
The Regis Jesuit junior was tackled as soon as he scored the winning goal in the first minute of overtime for a 1-0 win against Ralston Valley in the Class 5A state title match on Saturday night at Weidner Field.
With the suddenness of a hiccup, he popped up, tore off his jersey and ran into a sea of shirtless fans that had stormed the pitch. It was a euphoric moment not only because it brought the Raiders their fifth ever state title, but because Ralston Valley’s 1-2 punch of Ethan Orchard and Buddy Pouchot kept Regis Jesuit (18-0-2) on its heels throughout the entire second half.
If either side was going to net the golden goal, it looked like the Mustangs would be the ones to do so given the way they used the width of the field and the technical skills of their playmakers. It was the fourth goal of the season for Berg and his first match winner.
“I don’t know what happened,” Berg said. “It was all blurry. The ball goes in. We were just going to play it long. They pressed really hard so we finally got it out wide and I just started sprinting to the box. I thought, I need this ball, I know I can do something with it. The ball got played in and I played a one-touch pass to Cam because I know he’s our scorer.
“So I wasn’t thinking of following it up, but figured I might as well. Cam shoots and the keeper makes an amazing save. The ball pops out and it’s right in front of me. I was planning my celebration before it went in. I got tackled immediately, I was on the ground. I was trying to get over to the fans to celebrate.”
As soon as regulation ended, Regis Jesuit coach Rick Wolf wanted the Raiders to make an adjustment. They’d played too direct and got stuck in a north-south rut. If they could spread Ralston Valley (18-1-1) out and use the width of the field, maybe an opening in its back line would present itself.
“They were all over us, all over us,” Wolf repeated himself for emphasis. “Our goalkeeper Marcus Huguelet had a heck of a game. What a team. They just slowly took over the game and before we knew it we were on our heels. It’s an unbelievable start to overtime. I’m in shock.
“We wanted to get it outside and grind, grind, grind…we did it once and it worked.”
In the 27th minute, Orchard broke through a line of four Regis Jesuit defenders and like a flash of lightning, fired off a lefty shot that zipped over the top of the cage.
Moments later, a direct pass from the Raiders’ defensive line was played to Jackson Schneller who was run off his line before a serious threat could emerge. The match was tied 0-0 at halftime.
It was more of the same in the second half, with neither side able to crack their opponents back line. An Orchard steal in the 51st minute was played forward to Pouchot but the speedy winger couldn’t connect on a centring pass and Regis Jesuit retook possession.
But Ralston Valley was soon on the move in the 58th minute, Pouchot’s slick technical skills put defenders on skates on back-to-back possessions. Yet, headers on cross passes to Orchard and Dylan Chambers both sailed high.
While the Mustangs played through their defense and into the midfield, their sudden forways into the attacking third felt like they were the team on their front foot in the second half.
Later, in the 75th minute Orchard crossed up a defender who was sent spiraling to the ground. He then used a heel flick to carry a pass to himself that split two defenders. Just when he’d shook open through heavy traffic like a hungry driver weaving through rush hour traffic to get home for dinner, he fired off a shot high and wide of the frame.
Just before time ran out in regulation, Schneller cranked up a shot from 25-yards out that was ticketed for the far post. Ben Brown’s diving save kept the score tied at the end of regulation and set the stage for Berg’s heroics.
