(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
MONUMENT — Lewis-Palmer’s day started with a pep rally at the crack of dawn. It ended with a night time celebration of the boys soccer team’s biggest win over the season.
Thanks to goals from Cameron Waldron and Jon Merrell, the CHSAANow.com No. 5-ranked Rangers (10-2 overall 3-1 Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) came away with a 2-1 win over No. 2 Air Academy.
“Our day started at about five this morning with a lot of these kids showing up for an assembly,” Rangers coach Brian Barkey said. “It was just a great day for this school. It was just awesome.”
There was no sign of the pep rally having a tiring affect on Lewis-Palmer as Waldron scored the first goal of the game less than four minutes into play.
That provided the team with a big spark of energy and immediately put the Kadets (10-2, 3-1) on their heels. They would eventually tie the game on a goal from Kristian Hooker, but the flow of the game was very much trending the way of the Rangers.
“I think we get stressed a bit when we play teams that get after it (and are) physical,” Air Academy coach Espen Hosoien said. “We get out of our game plan a little bit. It’s frustrating.”
With the game knotted at 1-1, Waldron played an excellent ball in the corner and found Merrell who was staring a wide-open net.
“There’s no worse thing to do than to misplace an easy shot,” Merrell said. “It hurts on an emotional level. All you’re thinking about is the goal.”
He had plenty of it to think about because he had plenty of it to look at. He buried the shot to give the Rangers the lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half.
The second half became about positioning and physicality as yellow cards started getting exchanged. The best chance for either team was when an Air Academy shot dribbled past keeper Hayden MacPherson, who had come out to the top of the box.
As it trickled toward the net, Dylan Turner sprinted toward the goal line and was able to swat the ball away at the very last second.
“We’ve had that happen before and our keeper always tells me to drop back and cover for him in case that happens,” Turner said. “I saw it happen before it happened and I committed to it.”
As a result, the Kadets were unable to tie the game.
They were able to get the ball into the Lewis-Palmer zone as time began to expire, but they couldn’t get another look to tie the game.
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Despite a loss last week to Cheyenne Mountain, the Rangers are still very much in the PPAC conversation and with the way the team has been improving since the season started, they can be a major threat in the Class 4A playoffs.
“This group has a lot of potential,” Barkey said. “There were times tonight we could’ve played better. It’s really good for them to enjoy the moment and then try to be better every game.”
They won’t always have the early-morning pep rally to help do that, but with the momentum the Rangers have after Thursday’s win, they may not need it.