ARVADA — It was a first for Arvada West junior Judah Johnston on Wednesday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
“That’s the first PK (penalty kick) I’ve every missed in my life,” said Johnston, who scored 14 goals for the Wildcats’s boys soccer team last season. “I told (A-West coach Troy Gette) I would score for him and he put me right back on.”
Standley Lake goalie Kevin Ruzicka (00) is able to keep A-West junior Jonah Werner from getting off a shot on goal. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
Standley Lake senior goalie Kevin Ruzika was just able to get a hand on Johnston’s PK midway through he second half. The ball hit the post and was cleared out by Standley Lake junior Sawyer Bundgaard to keep the non-league game between Class 5A and 4A Jeffco teams scoreless.
Johnston did atone for the miss with 10 minutes remaining in regulation time to score the lone and game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory for A-West.
“He (Johnston) is a cool goal scorer. He has all the confidence in the world,” Gette said. “We can lean on his pretty heavily. I wasn’t worried about him.”
Junior Gabe Wills fed a pass to Johnston in the Gators’ goal box. Johnston had just found a seam between several Standley Lake defenders in the 70th minute.
“Gabe saw the run I was making and played me through,” Johnston said of his fifth goal of the season through three games. “It was me one-on-one and I just slotted it back post.”
A-West’s Gabe Wills (8) and Standley Lake’s Calvin Goetz (3) battle for possession Wednesday night at NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
It was the third straight shutout victory for A-West (3-0 record). Johnston commented that he is even surprised the Wildcats haven’t given up a goal in 240 minutes of action.
“Standley Lake has been a rival team for awhile,” Johnston said. “We’ve had some tough games with them the last two years. It was a good win for us.”
A big reason for the defensive prowess is sophomore Kyler Tate. Standley Lake (2-2-1) had only a few scoring chances on A-West senior goalie Latham Kleckner with Tate running the defensive back for the Wildcats.
“Kyler is a stud back there,” Gette said of his center back defender. “He keeps the back four really organized and allows us to push numbers in different places.”
Despite being just a sophomore, Tate loves the pressure role.
Standley Lake junior Christian Lee (8) blocks the path of A-West sophomore Eli Ross during the first half. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“I like to be the last line of defense,” Tate said. “It’s a great feeling to make a game-saving tackle.”
Tate actually helped seal the victory late. Standley Lake senior Tate Minch took a direct free kick just outside the Wildcats’ goalie box in the final minutes. Tate was able to get a head on Minch’s kick to prevent it from getting on goal.
“We play hard and go hard for every 50/50 ball,” Tate said of the A-West defense. “We all work for each other.”
A-West has more than a week before its next game. The Wildcats travel to Grandview on Sept. 6.
Standley Lake has been in a close game in all five matches this season. A pair of 1-goal wins, a pair of 1-goal losses and a 1-1 tie on the road against Niwot the day before the loss to A-West. The Gators head to Brighton to face the Bulldogs on Sept. 4.
A-West junior Judah Johnston, middle, uses his head between Standley Lake juniors Sawyer Bundgaard and Christian Lee. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)