Niwot soccer advances to quarterfinals, but loses to defending state champions

Stephen Dimit, head coach of Niwot High School boys soccer, was sad to see the season end, but proud of his players after they suffered a loss in the quarterfinals of the state 4A playoffs. "We knew it would be a really tough game," Dimit said. "They just have so many ways to beat you," referring to Northfield High School, which won the 4A championship last season with a perfect 20-0 record.

The Cougars battled Northfield throughout the game, but came out on the short end of a 2-0 score. The first goal did not come until the 21:24 mark of the first period when Northfield managed to loft a header in front of the goal over the head of Niwot goalkeeper Matthew Hansen and into the net.

Niwot had some good looks at the goal, including one by Orlando Lopez that sailed over the crossbar after a rare miscue by Northfield. Lopez came back again with 14 minutes left in the half with another strong kick after an impressive maneuver, but the ball hit the top of the goal and bounced away.

Northfield had a veteran team, with several players able to loft a throw-in from the side into an area just in front of the goal. With 12 minutes left in the first half, Northfield had a good scoring chance but a header off of a throw-in went too high and over the goal.

Two minutes later, Northfield took the ball down the field on a breakaway, and a hard shot eluded Hansen for Northfield's second goal. Niwot's Aldo Lopez took control of the ball in front of the Niwot goal and dribbled it to midfield, saving the Cougars from another Northfield scoring chance.

A Niwot player was called for a yellow card, giving Northfield a chance at a penalty kick with eight minutes left, but Hansen caught the attempt. Hansen had several impressive saves as Northfield continued to press the Cougar defense.

With two minutes to go, Niwot's Josh Rodriguez had a scoring opportunity with a hard shot on goal, but the kick sailed wide left. With under a minute left, Northfield was called for a penalty, and Hansen moved up from goal to take the shot from 40 yards out, but it was caught by the Northfield goalkeeper.

The second period saw Northfield drop back on defense to protect the goal. Two minutes into the period an obvious handball by Northfield wasn't called, to the frustration of the Cougar players. Niwot had a good look a minute later, but the kick sailed over the goal.

Niwot earned some corner kicks in the second half, but the sea of Northfield players in front of the goal kept the Cougars from scoring. With 28 minutes left, Niwot's Cristian Perez took a shot at the goal but it was caught by the goalkeeper.

A minute later, Rodriguez went down hard and a penalty kick was awarded, but the ball was tipped away by the Northfield keeper. With 26 minutes left, Northfield again threatened to score on a breakaway, but Hansen made the save.

Niwot's Jett Feiner took a penalty kick for the Cougars from 25 yards out, but the kick was again caught by the Northfield keeper.

As the game was winding down, the referee stopped play to warn the Northfield school administrators that their fans were engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct by calling out a Niwot player by number. Though the Northfield fans complied with the request, their lack of sportsmanship displayed toward Niwot was repeated as they sang "Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye" towards the end of the game.

Dimit noted that his players never noticed the taunting by what he described as a "football-sized crowd" that left little room for Niwot fans. "Some teams get rattled coming in here, but we didn't. We played them as well as anyone has."

Northfield continued to test Hansen in goal, but he was up to the task, preventing any further scoring. Dimit cited the play of Kenji McCracken and Feiner as keeping the Cougars in the game. "We put a lot on them defensively. Both of them did a great job."

Niwot had its share of shots on goal, but only one required a difficult stop by the Northfield keeper as time ran out.

Earlier in the week, Niwot advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-2 win over Steamboat Springs. Barely four minutes into the game, Steamboat Springs was awarded a penalty kick from 10 yards in front of Niwot's goal. "Matthew had to make an incredible save," Dimit said. "Then he got the ball out quickly, and Josh Rodriguez scored on an incredible turnaround." Rodriguez took the ball down the field so quickly that Steamboat Springs was unable to stop him.

Instead of looking at a 1-0 deficit, the Cougars were up by that score. "We've been practicing penalty kicks," Dimit said. "He [Hansen] must have seen 100 of them in the last week."

Niwot had several shots on goal in the first half, but could not convert. Steamboat Springs then sent a long kick downfield and their striker sent a high arching kick that was perfectly placed over head of Hansen, and into the goal to tie the game. Soon afterward, the Sailors scored again to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.

At the 32:51 mark of the second half, Niwot tied it up on a goal by Usiel Franco Cruz after a long kick to set up the attempt. Cruz's kick went hard to the left of the keeper to make the score 2-2. "He's been an outstanding goal player," Dimit said. "He runs harder than any kid I've coached. He's one of those guys that made this work. Coming off the bench he's going 1,000 miles per hour."

Soon after the score, Niwot's Javier Alvira went down in agony 20 yards out from the Steamboat Springs goal. "Javy just runs until his legs fall off," Dimit said. The Steamboat Springs goalkeeper, senior Charlie Welch, was the first one to reach him. In a display of sportsmanship seen in soccer more than other sports, Welch stretched out Alvira's hamstring before Niwot trainer Maja Watne could get there, relieving his pain. "Soccer players do that," Dimit said later. "Steamboat Springs is one of the classier programs. I have a lot of admiration for them."

Ironically, Alvira came back to score the game-winning goal with less than three minutes remaining. "Javy had been struggling to find his rhythm," Dimit said. "He got one ball. He was getting taken down. It was just a beautiful goal."