PARKER – It has happened so often in recent years that by now, the Broomfield and Boulder boys soccer teams have gotten used to playing one another in high-pressure games deep in the postseason.
Both teams reached opposite sides of the Class 5A state semifinals last season. Broomfield won the state championship in 2017 and Boulder won the year before that. That year, the Panthers defeated a Broomfield team that had won the previous two state championships including a victory over Boulder in the 2014 title match.
That’s a lot of playoff history for a pair of teams that play in the same Front Range League during the regular season already. At EchoPark Stadium on Wednesday night, No. 2 Boulder and No. 9 Broomfield met up for yet another late-bracket matchup and Broomfield won 2-1 in overtime courtesy of a golden goal from junior Zane Jacobson.
This year, it is the Eagles who are headed to the state championship game at 6 p.m. on Friday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. But not before both teams wrote another chapter in the already storied rivalry.
“You just know it’s always going to go that way with Boulder. It’s always going to be tight,” Broomfield head coach Jim Davidson said. “Both teams love to compete against each other and we both respect each other. We love to play against them because they play a beautiful brand of soccer.”
The Eagles (16-2-1) took the early lead on Wednesday when senior Gustavo Gutierrez scored in the 27th minute. The Panthers (15-4) responded quickly in for of a goal from Sam Phillips in the 37th minute.
Broomfield’s Jack Stoeker and Boulder’s Toby Bateman were both excellent in goal, making several difficult saves in the second half and aided by several other goal-saving plays from their respective defenses, to send the game into overtime. In the 84th minute, Jacobson scored the game-winner to send the Eagles into the Saturday’s final.
“It’s exciting,” Jacobson said. “The whole season my team has just told me to shoot, shoot, shoot and see what happens. I took a chance and it went in. I’m just excited for our team. I’m excited for our coaches. I’m excited for our fans. I’m just excited.”
The Eagles had to get past Front Range League rivals Fairview and Legacy, both in shootouts, in the previous two rounds. Boulder rolled through the second and third rounds, outscoring Arapahoe and Rocky Mountain by a combined 10-1.
Boulder head coach Hardy Kalisher said we was pleased with how the Panthers played in another playoff classic against Broomfield but also said because the coaching staff had such belief in this year’s team, not being the team to come up with the winner in overtime was a tough way to finish the season.
“I thought we played a beautiful soccer game,” Kalisher said. “I’ve been a part of a lot of these semifinals and that was a beautiful soccer game. Our boys knew we would go right at them and give them all we got. We’ve been scoring a lot of goals and we just got one tonight but we created all of those great opportunities. This team played as well as any team I’ve ever had all over the field and I’m super proud of them.”
