Niwot wins 2-1 in OT against Silver Creek

Niwot boys soccer coach Stephen Dimit described the setting for Niwot's first cross-town rivalry soccer game under the home lights on Friday, Sept. 17. "It was a cool environment, a cool atmosphere."

The Cougars took on the Raptors around 7 p.m. "We kind of knew we needed to be at our best," Dimmit said. "There are so many connections, they play together in the spring."

The game featured an aggressive push by Niwot to keep the ball in the Silver Creek side of the field. The strategy seemed to work as Niwot controlled the ball for much of the first half, scoring on a penalty kick at the 35th minute mark to take a 1-0 lead.

The second and game-winning goal was much harder to come by.

The first goal came on a header by sophomore Kenji McCracken. Jeff Feiner got the assist. Niwot had several more shots on goal, including a shot at the 23rd minute mark that was deflected by the Silver Creek goalie, and another one at the 21st minute mark.

Niwot had another strong scoring chance with 17 minutes left, but the kick sailed well over the goal. With 11 minutes to go in the first period, Niwot had another scoring opportunity, but the Silver Creek goalie tipped the ball over the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, Silver Creek had a shot on goal, but goalie Matthew Hansen gathered it in.

The Raptors were awarded a penalty kick from 25 yards out with just under 11 minutes left in the first period, but the kick sailed wide left.

Niwot managed to get another scoring attempt on a corner kick, but a corner kick was headed over the goal by a Cougar.

Niwot took 3 more shots in the closing minutes, but the Silver Creek goalie managed to stymie their attempts.

Silver Creek came out in the second half with a more aggressive approach, and managed three scoring threats in the first four minutes. Niwot also had a good scoring opportunity, but one shot sailed high over the crossbar, and another hit the crossbar and came back into play, giving the Cougars another scoring opportunity, but the rebound kick was well over the crossbar.

Silver Creek did not go away, and at the 30 minute mark, the Niwot goalkeeper came out, but did not get his hands on the ball as a kick sailed over his head and into the net, tying the game 1-1. "Their goal was a little messy on our end," Dimit said.

Niwot had several more scoring opportunities in the last 30 minutes of regulation, but couldn't capitalize as shots were either way over the goal, or collected or deflected by the Raptor goalkeeper.

With 14 minutes to go, Niwot had a good scoring chance, but the ball was deflected by the Raptor goalie.

During the first overtime period, the teams exchanged shots on goal, but none were successful.

Niwot had a shot with under two minutes to go, but the kick was captured by the Raptor goalie as three players went down in a violent collision.

Niwot had another scoring chance in the second overtime, but a penalty kick sailed over the goal. Finally, with 3:42 on the clock, Niwot scored on a goal by Rolando Lopez off an assist by Javier Alvino, ending the epic contest.

"Jett Feiner set up both goals, though he didn't get an assist on the second one," Dimit said, who was pleased with the outcome, and also with the way his team controlled the ball.

"As a unit, they played so well," Dimit siad.

The defense kept the pressure on Silver Creek all night, and Dimit knew that Silver Creek was missing two key players. On defense, Dimit mentioned the outstanding play of Usiel Cruz and sophomore Jay Sharfe. "He's playing so much older than he is," Dimit said of Sharfe.

"Josh Ary started at forward, but we later put him back to defend their best player," Dimit said. "He's usually a defender but he has five goals in two games."

Dimit also had high praise for another junior, Bo Gardner, who plays center-midfielder.

"We tried not to adjust our game too much to theirs," Dimit said. "Our guys played with high energy, we had some stylish passing, and played with a little bit of joy."

Niwot's football team had a bye week, and many of the players attended the soccer game to cheer on their classmates. "It was awesome," Dimit said. "I was happy to take over the 'Friday Night Lights' spot. We appreciated the students, the parents and the staff who came out.

Dimit noted that it's been an adjustment, playing on the new artificial turf surface. "It helps our style," he noted. "We have one or two late practices with the lights on."

Dimit noted that Matt Hansen, his goalkeeper, had kicked for the football team a week earlier. "He's got a leg on him. He pinned that 70-yard punt that sealed it," noting the homecoming football 15-6 victory Sept. 9.