A year after having a share of goals lead in the Class 5A, Vista Ridge junior Carson Tapia is out front once again this fall.

Tapia is averaging better than a hat trick per game, scoring 13 times in his first four games of the season for the Wolves. This comes after he had the 5A goals lead alongside Caden Hickox in 2022 despite playing two games fewer than the now-Colorado Springs Switchbacks player.

In this week’s look at boys’ soccer, we dive into the leaders in goals, assists and saves in each classification, and what it means to their respective teams.

Class 5A

Goals: Vista Ridge’s Carson Tapia (13).

The junior has scored 13 of his team’s 19 goals this year, including a five-goal outing in an 8-2 win over Sand Creek late last month.

He’ll look to add to it Thursday when the Wolves (3-1) take on Sierra (0-4), which has allowed five goals per game.

Assists: Vista Ridge’s Parker Wheat and Westminster’s Andres Cordova Gallegos (4).

Wheat, a sophomore, played exclusive JV last season.

Gallegos, who had four in all of 2022, has tallied at least one helper in each of his first three games for Westminster (1-1-1), which beat Mountain Range last week for its first win of the season.

Westminster is at Evergreen Wednesday.

Saves: Liberty’s Micah Newton (33)

Six different players saw time in goal for the Lancers last season. None of them being Newton.

The senior has played well for a team that allowed more than 2 ½ goals per game in 2022, giving up just five in four games and just one across the past three games.

Liberty (1-1-2) hosts Sand Creek (0-5) today.

Class 4A

Goals: Mesa Ridge’s Tanner Widic (12).

The senior has scored in four of five games for the Grizzlies (4-1), who have outscored teams 23-12. He scored four times in wins over Sand Creek and Falcon, and three in a win over Mitchell, giving him 62 for his career.

Mesa Ridge is at Dakota Ridge (3-0) Thursday.

Assists: Grand Junction Central’s Angel Palma (6).

Four of them came in a 10-0 win over Moffat County last week, and the other two followed in a 5-3 win over Delta Thursday.

Palma’s six helpers are already more than he had in either his freshman or sophomore seasons.

He’s also scored twice for GJC (2-2), which is home against Montrose (0-3) today.

Saves: Falcon’s Lucas Jones (67).

Jones has four shutouts for the Falcons (4-1), whose only loss of the season came against Mesa Ridge last week.

In that 5-2 defeat, he was credited with 26 stops. The week before he had 15 in a 5-0 win over Vanguard.

Falcon is home against Fort Morgan (2-1) Saturday.

Class 3A

Goals: Fort Lupton’s Diego De La Fuente (11).

Fuente has scored in four of five games for the Bluedevils (2-1-2), who drew with CHSAA preseason No. 1 Jefferson Academy last week before beating 2A Jefferson.

Fort Lupton reached the round of 16 last season, where its senior class scored 72 of its 91 goals. It is home against Bennett (1-3) Thursday.

Assists: Manitou Springs’ Evan Yount (10)

The senior has seven goals and 10 helpers in just three games for the Mustangs (3-0). In his latest, Yount had four goals and assisted on four others in a 10-0 win over St. Mary’s Thursday.

Manitou Springs hosts Alamosa (0-4) Tuesday.

Saves: Berthoud’s Kodiak Byron (59).

Byron is averaging nearly 15 stops per game for the Spartans (1-2-1). Last week, he was credited with having 17 in a 1-1 draw against Windsor Charter Academy.

Berthoud is at Regis Groff (2-0) Tuesday.

Class 2A

Goals and assists: Caprock Academy’s Zayne Polson (10 and 5).

And that’s with incomplete stats. Polson has 10 goals in three of the team’s five games, while teammate Edrick Ang has nine. He has five assists, while teammate Noah Collins has four.

Missing from their MaxPreps are stats from last week — an 8-0 win against Ridgway and a 4-1 loss to Crested Butte.

The Eagles (4-1) are at Telluride (1-2) Wednesday.

Saves: Jefferson’s Guillermo Lopez (40).

Last year was the Saints’ first winning season since 2016. If they hope to add another one, they’ll likely need to limit the shots on Lopez. The junior is facing more than 10 per game.

Jefferson (1-2-1) is home against Middle Park (0-0-2) Wednesday.