Chatfield freshman Waleed Al-Alem (12) gets off a shot in front of Doherty’s Alen Acosta on Friday afternoon at Chatfield High School. The top-10 boys soccer tilt ended in a 2-2 tie. (Dennis Pleuss)
LITTLETON — Some kind of adversity seemingly pops up for nearly every team during the season.
For Doherty and Chatfield, two squads ranked in the top-10 of this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 5A boys soccer rankings, misfortune presented itself in a few different forms Friday afternoon in the non-league tilt at Chatfield High School. Maybe fittingly, after 100 minutes of play No. 7 Doherty and No. 10 Chatfield settled for a 2-2 draw.
“It’s a gutsy performance from our boys to pick up the lack when we were down a man and down a goal. We never quit and battled back to even it up,” Doherty coach Jon Shub said after the tie. “I’m very pleased with their resolve. The cards were against them and they could have quit. That isn’t their character.”
Doherty’s Carlos Donelson (21) slides a pass over to a teammate as Chatfield freshman Waleed Al-Alem closes in Friday afternoon. (Dennis Pleuss)
Doherty had to play a man down for nearly 70 minutes after forward Carlos Donelson received a red card in the 31st minute of the first half. The Spartans (7-2-1, 1-1 in 5A Colorado Springs Metro League) actually took a 1-0 lead in the 46th minute with a goal by Marcus Krause while playing a man down.
However, Chatfield (5-2-2, 1-1 in 5A Jeffco League) answered back quickly with a goal from senior Jamey McGrath in the 47th minute. The Chargers took a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute when senior Jared Reiss fired home a penalty kick that McGrath drew when he was taken down in the Spartans’ goal box.
It appeared Chatfield would take a 2-1 victory, but with five minutes to play Krause struck again with a header off a long free kick by Doherty goalie Nick Pallisco to tie the game at 2-2 in the 75th minute.
“He (Krause) has definitely been our leader and stalwart,” Shub said. “We expect big things from him. I think he stepped up to the plate today.”
The Chargers had the best scoring chances during the two 10-minute overtime periods. Reiss had the best scoring opportunity in the 93rd minute, but his shot went just wide of the net.
“It was tough,” McGrath said of the final result. “We weren’t able to pull it out in overtime. It’s an unfortunate tie.”
Chatfield’s biggest hardship so far this season is having its returning all-state striker Ben Overholt relegated to the bench. Overholt is in a sling after breaking his arm last week against Arapahoe. The Chargers started the season off strong with a 4-0-1 mark, but since Overholt’s injury the team is 1-2-1.
“Frankly, we’ve been so depleted with injuries and sickness,” Chatfield coach Brock Blume said. “Big players are sitting here on the bench. Trying to find our identity as a group without those players has been difficult.”
The most glaring absence is Overholt. As a junior he led the Chargers with 13 goals. Chatfield finished with a 12-4-1 record last year with Overholt leading the way.
“Having Ben obviously helps the team. I hope we get him back soon,” McGrath said. “He is a goal-scoring kid. He had six goals before he went out. It’s a huge part of our team missing.”
Blume said he hopes to get Overholt back this season, but admitted it’s a “wait-and-see” situation on how quickly his arm heals. The focus for Chatfield is to get on a winning streak in conference play after dropping a game in overtime last Tuesday to defending league champion Arvada West.
“We’ve got to take care of our business,” Blume said. “That’s our goal on Monday and for the rest of league.”
Chatfield gets back into its conference schedule Monday against Pomona. The Chargers face the Panthers at 6 p.m. at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada.
Doherty has a quick turnaround. The Spartans host Highlands Ranch at 6 p.m. Saturday at Gerry Berry Stadium in Colorado Springs. It will be the fourth game in six days for Doherty.
“This definitely boosts our confidence,” Shub said before his team headed back to Colorado Springs.
Doherty’s Junior Delgado (4) and Chatfield sophomore Michael Ardourel (3) chase after a loose ball Friday afternoon during the non-league game at Chatfield High School. (Dennis Pleuss)