For the second year in a row, Centaurus boys soccer won the Northern Colorado Athletic Conference which made them league champions and the second seed going into the 4A state playoffs. Led by senior captains Garrett Pugh, Demitri Weigand, and Kasey Minor, the team finished with a 13-0-2 regular season record, 13 wins, no losses, and 2 draws. The Warriors came out of the gates strong, surely remembering the stinging defeat on penalties in last year’s playoffs during the second round. After a comeback win against Silver Creek for the league championship the week before, where the Warriors won 4-3 after being down 3-1 late in the second half, the team was feeling confident going into the first round of playoffs.
For their first playoff game on October 26, the Centaurus team played Pueblo West at home. Pueblo West was the 31 seed so the players were feeling confident. Centaurus scored early and controlled the game on their way to a 2-0 win over the Cyclones. The Warriors dominated possession and never even gave Pueblo West a shot on goal.
Onto the second round of playoffs, Centaurus played Lutheran, the 15 seed, on November 1st. Because they were the higher seed, the team had another home game at Spangenberg field. Centaurus scored first again, and continued to play in a possession dominant fashion. However, Lutheran scored a goal on a counter-attack to start the second half, and then sat back and defended for the rest of the second half. The Warriors struggled to break down the Lion’s defense, but a darting run into the box drew a penalty kick that was put home by Demitri Weigand. With 5 minutes left, The Warriors would hold on and win 2-1.
The Quarter-Finals were held on November 4th and Steamboat Springs traveled to play Centaurus at home. The game was intense from the beginning, but the Centaurus team dominated possession. Unfortunately, Steamboat got a goal off of a deflected free kick early in the first half. After that, Steamboat focused entirely on defense and the Warriors couldn’t seem to break through and score. They remained down by one the majority of the second half and tensions were mounting. Finally, with ten minutes left, Billy Plampin took advantage of chaos in the box to tie the game at 1-1. The fans exploded and were still cheering when Carter Ochsner stole the ball from a Steamboat Player and fired in a shot from the outside of the box to take the lead. In 18 seconds, the Warriors had scored two goals and, with another 2-1 win, they were on to the next round.
The Semi-Final game was held at a neutral field against Battle Mountain, so on November 8th the team and all their fans traveled to Trailblazer stadium in Lakewood. It was a fast-paced, aggressive game with both teams coming out strong despite the freezing weather. Battle Mountain scored after some confusion in the box at the end of the first half, and then again off a deflection 5 minutes into the Second Half. The Warriors had plenty of chances in the second half, but couldn’t put shots away before Battle Mountain scored a third on a counter attack. Sebastian Kemp drew a penalty that was converted by Demitri Weigand with 20 seconds left to end the game and season on a high note.
Brandon Fellows-Mason and Angel Macias were named All Conference, and Sebastian Kemp, Liam Dols, Carter Ochsner, and Giancarlo Sanchez Cirelli received honorable mentions. Demitri Weigand was named All Conference and First Team All State for 4A, Vincent Renton was named All Conference and Second Team All State, Kasey Minor was named as an honorable mention for All Conference and Second Team All State, and goalkeeper Garrett Pugh was named All Conference and received an All State honorable mention.
