Cougar soccer battles a 1-0 win over Steamboat Springs

The Niwot High School boys soccer team opened the home season Saturday, Aug. 31, with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Steamboat Springs High School on the Cougar's home turf at Niwot High. Niwot had opened the season with two games on the road, a 2-1 victory over Class 5A Legacy High School, followed by a 1-0 loss at perennial 4A powerhouse Cheyenne Mountain High School on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Against Steamboat Springs, Cougar senior Gavin Engtrakrul scored off an assist from fellow senior Naveen Bopearachchigedon around the 15-minute mark of the first period in what turned out to be the only score of the game.

"Naveen played it through and Gavin is really fast," Coach Stephen Dimit said. "He snuck in a shot on the front post. I was really happy for him. It's his first return to the sport in three years." Engtrakul also runs cross country for the Cougars, and decided to compete in both sports his senior year.

The teams were evenly matched, but much of the second half found the Cougars defending their goal against the Sailors' attack. Steamboat Springs dropped down to Class 3A this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state tournament last year.

Senior Lucas Willard opened the game in goal, with sophomore Jannik Stranzenbach playing the last 60 minutes in goal. "Lucas started the game," Dimit said, "and Jannik closed the game. It's the situation he excels at." Stranzenbach's performance at Friday's practice was what gave the coaching staff confidence in his ability to close out the game.

He was challenged twice in the last half of the second period, once when a deflected ball bounced straight up 25 feet in the air, right in front of the goal, and again in the closing minutes on a hard shot on goal by Steamboat Springs.

Stanzenbach corralled the high bounce while fighting off a Steamboat striker, who was called for a foul on the play, according to Dimit. "I take my hat off to both of them," Dimit said of his goalkeepers. "They played under enormous pressure, and stayed calm. We have three really awesome ones," he said of the Cougar goalkeepers.

The Cougars were impacted by illness all week, so Dimit wasn't surprised that they had a letdown after the first goal. "I really loved the start," he said. "After that it was us creating too much excitement."

Dimit was pleased with his defense. "Will Gabrielson kept us together on the back line," he said. "We had Leo [Broteland] out there to make big tackles, Jay Scharfe did it all for us, and Mohi Bauer leads our defenders."

Dimit was concerned about the tough competition in the early part of the season, but is looking forward to the conference schedule. "I'm really happy to be 2-1."