Wheat Ridge boys soccer pulls off wild win over Evergreen

ARVADA — Wheat Ridge boys soccer team won’t relinquish the Class 4A Jeffco League title without a fight.

The two-time defending conference champions took a dramatic 2-1 victory over Evergreen on Tuesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. The Farmers (11-0-1, 8-0 in league) now stand alone atop the conference standings after handing Evergreen (10-3, 8-1) its first league loss.

“There is just a fight in Wheat Ridge over the last four to five years that you don’t get anywhere else,” Wheat Ridge coach Lawrie O’Toole said. “We wanted the boys to keep playing. They knew what this game meant.”

Evergreen could have clinched the league title with a victory over Wheat Ridge. The last boys soccer conference title for the Cougars was back in 2015. That same year Evergreen captured the 4A state championship with a 17-2-1 record.

However, through 73 minutes the key league battle was scoreless. Wheat Ridge junior Asher Krol broke the ice with a sliding shot past Evergreen goalie Liam Kelly.

“We’ve got a couple of guys who have been splitting time,” O’Toole said. “We need guys that want to get into position to score goals. He (Krol) just came on and he isn’t pitching a fuss because he isn’t starting. He comes off the bench and does exactly what we want.”

Evergreen wasted no time scoring the equalizer less than a minute later when a tough angle shot by sophomore Aiden Loftus just crossed the goal-line in the 75th minute.

“We just had to go back and get it again,” Krol said of the Farmers mentality after the Cougars tied things up at 1-1. “We had five minutes left, plenty of time.”

Wheat Ridge needed just seconds to answer. Freshman Joey Martell’s tough angle shot got past Kelly to give the Farmers the lead back for the third goal in less than 90 seconds.

“I thought he (Kelly) was going to pick it up for sure,” Krol said of the eventual game-winning goal. “It felt amazing. That felt really good when that one went in.”

The Farmers controlled possession for the final minutes to run out the clock and get the huge victory to keep the league plaque out of anyone’s hands until next week.

Wheat Ridge returns to the NAAC on Thursday, Oct. 17, to face D’Evelyn. The Farmers wrap up their regular season against rival Golden on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Lakewood Memorial Field. A win over D’Evelyn would likely set-up a decisive showdown with Golden to determine the league champion.

“This is familiar territory for us,” O’Toole said with the Farmers controlling their own destiny to win a third straight league title. “It is probably going to come down to us and the Demons.”

Golden (7-3-3, 7-1) was actually standing on the Farmers’ sideline at the end of the game doing a little cheering for its rivals before facing Standley Lake in the second game of the night at NAAC. The Demons took a 5-1 victory over the Gators to stay in the thick of the conference race. Golden has won seven straight games.

“It was a little strange,” Krol said of the Demons cheering for the Farmers.

Evergreen, Golden or Wheat Ridge could still capture the league title depending on what happens in the final conference games next week. If the Farmers win a third straight league title, they will have done it with a three different head coaches over the last three seasons.

O’Toole has been on the coaching staff for the last handful of years, but this is his first season as the head coach.

Evergreen will try to regroup after the tough loss.

The Cougars close out their regular season next week. Evergreen is on the road against rival Conifer on Tuesday, Oct. 22, in their league finale before heading to Battle Mountain on Thursday, Oct. 24, for a non-league tune-up before the 4A state tournament that begins Oct. 31.