Golden teammates Ian Persky (12) and Christian Sekavac (19) try to maintain possession of the ball as Standley Lake junior RJ Krapes (1) slide tackles the ball away Tuesday at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
ARVADA — Golden boys soccer wouldn’t mind a carbon-copy result to its Class 4A Jeffco League run as last year.
The Demons won the conference title in 2018 by starting off league play with a close 2-1 victory over Standley Lake. Golden — No. 3 in the latest CHSAANow.com 4A boys soccer poll — replicated last year’s conference opener with another 2-1 victory over the Gators late Tuesday afternoon at the North Area Athletic Complex.
Golden junior Carter Novak keeps a close eye on the ball during a run in the first half Tuesday against Standley Lake. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“It’s always tough when you play Standley Lake. They are a good program and he (Ken Wood) is a very good coach,” Golden coach Larry Harding said. “At times the game isn’t as pretty as you want it to be, but you grind out the win. You get the win and go home.”
Golden senior Christian Sekavac scored the eventually game-winning goal in the 44th minute. His score into the back of the net broke up a 1-1 tie early in the second half.
“I just tried to stay composed and put it on frame. It hit the bar and went it,” Sekavac said. “After that one we had our motivation back up and I knew we were back in the game.”
The last few minutes saw scoring chances by both teams. Golden senior Ian Persky hit the cross bar in the 76th minute and then had another near goal with a header in the 79th minute that was saved by Standley Lake junior goalie David Crosby.
Standley Lake (6-4, 0-1 in league) nearly had the equalizer in the 77th minute junior Kellen Bundgaard’s free kick from distance had to be punched out by Golden senior goalie David Koury to preserve the victory for the Demons (7-1-1, 1-0).
Standley Lake senior Sawyer Bundgaard (5) is a step ahead of Golden senior Christian Sekavac (19) during the first half Tuesday at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)
“We started out really slow and knew it would be a sluggish game,” Sekavac said. “I think in the second half we were able to execute a little bit more. We pulled out the 2-1 win.”
Golden struck first with a goal in the 12th minute. Senior Nate Thompson’s low shot from inside the goal box slipped out of the reach of Crosby.
The Demons controlled most of the play in the first half, but the Gators got the equalizer in the 30th minute. Following a free kick, junior RJ Krapes was able to get his foot on the loose ball and put it past Koury to tie the game at 1-1 going into halftime.
“The (4A) Jeffco League is difficult. There are no easy games,” said Harding, who guided the Demons to their first boys soccer conference title in more than a decade. “You have to come into every game to play and to play to win. If you come in differently, you might come out on the wrong end of things.”
Golden is back in action Thursday night at Lakewood Memorial Field. The Demons face D’Evelyn (3-3-1, 1-0).
“We are hoping to be better this year,” Sekavac said. “I think we have really improved this year and can bring a lot to the table.”
Standley Lake has a bit of a break before returning to the field to face Evergreen on Oct. 2 at Lakewood Memorial Field.
Golden junior Daniel Erger (9) tries to get his head on the ball in the Demons’ Class 4A Jeffco League opener Tuesday at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)