Ralston Valley senior Jordan Quinlisk, center, celebrates one of his two first-half goals with teammates Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex. The Mustangs took a 3-1 victory over Denver East in the opening round of the Class 5A boys soccer state tournament. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — In a span of three minutes Thursday night, Ralston Valley capitalized twice to gain the upper hand on Denver East in the opening round of the Class 5A boys soccer state tournament at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Senior Jordan Quinlisk headed in a perfect centering pass from fellow senior Samuel Yavak, giving the No. 15 seed Mustangs a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute. Minutes later Quinlisk struck against when his centering pass was deflected into the net by an Angel defender in the 26th minute.
Ralston Valley senior Jordan Quinlisk, left, goes up for a header with Denver East freshman Luke Neuriter during the first-round Class 5A boys soccer playoff game Thursday at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss)
“It got us going with the momentum,” Quinlisk said after his two scores helped the 5A Jeffco League champions take a 3-1 victory over the No. 18 Angels to advance to the round of 16 of the state tournament. “Denver East was a really good team. I’m glad we came out with the win.”
Denver East had the majority of the scoring chances early with senior Augustin Bennett and junior Andre Arendt both having good looks before Quinlisk swiftly turned the momentum around.
The Angels might have come in as a lower seed, but they were certainly going to be a tough out. Denver East was ranked No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com poll earlier this season after quality victories over two top-10 seeds for the state tournament in No. 2 Smoky Hill and No. 7 Pine Creek. Then there was the fact Denver East advanced to the 5A state semifinals last season.
“There is a lot of weight that comes with that name (Denver East). We have a ton of respect for them,” Ralston Valley coach Kyle Kazemi said. “Ultimately is was a matter of us being opportunistic.”
Denver East got on the scoreboard with a header by sophomore Ryan Riforgiate that rocketed past Ralston Valley goalie Daniel Black and into the back of the net in the 56th minute.
However, the Mustangs (10-6 overall) responded by drawing a penalty kick in the 69th minute. Senior Alexander Makic took the penalty kick. Denver East keeper Will Palmquist saved the initial shot, but Makic was able to get to the rebound and put it in for a 3-1 Ralston Valley lead.
“I didn’t make up my mind on the shot,” Makic said of his penalty shot. “Natural instinct is don’t stop moving. That’s all it is. You just keep moving forward.”
Denver East (8-8) wasn’t able to muster up another good scoring chance in the final minutes to overcome the two-goal deficit.
“Those last nine or 10 minutes can be the hardest in the world in a one-goal game. We needed something like that,” Kazemi said of the importance of Makic’s goal. “He (Makic) missed the PK, but follows it up. It was super fun. It was awesome.”
Denver East junior Andre Arendt (8) and Ralston Valley senior Samuel Yevak (17) battle for the ball during the first half Thursday at the North Area Athletic Complex. Yevak had an assist on the Mustangs’ first goal in the 3-1 victory. (Dennis Pleuss)
The victory sets up a second-round showdown against Smoky Hill (14-2) on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at Smoky Hill High School. The Buffaloes easily eliminated Lincoln with an 11-1 victory Thursday.
“We’re ready to play anybody at this point,” Kazemi said after his squad was able to erase the memories of a tough 1-0 first-round loss to Fort Collins at NAAC last season.
It was a bazaar regular season for Ralston Valley. The Mustangs started the season with five straight losses.
“There were a lot of people underestimating us,” Quinlisk said. “We just knew something good was coming. We knew 0-5 wasn’t us.”
Ralston Valley proceeded to reel off eight consecutive victories. A non-league loss to Evergreen ended the winning streak, but the Mustangs quickly bounded in their regular-season finale with a 4-1 win over Columbine to wrap up an undefeated 7-0 record in the 5A Jeffco League.
“We had our losing streak and we had our winning streak,” Makic said. “Now it’s the final destination. We are out if we lose, so we don’t want to lose.”
Denver East’s Isaiah Jones (23) and Luke Neuriter do all they can to prevent Ralston Valley senior Jordan Quinlisk, far right, from getting to the ball Thursday at the North Area Athletic Complex. (Dennis Pleuss)