Panthers lose in playoffs

Panthers lose in playoffs

Oct. 24, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS

Journal Sports Editor


	JARED SANDERS (16) of the Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity boys soccer team gets ready to give the ball a boot as it comes toward him during action Saturday afternoon against Berthoud in Class 4A Regionals at Panther Stadium. The Panthers, who surprised everyone by making the playoffs, played a solid game, but the Spartans won 2-1.

Although they didn’t win Saturday morning, Oct. 21, the Panther players and coaches still felt good following the game.

Montezuma-Cortez High School may have lost 2-1 to Berthoud in a Regional Class 4A boys soccer match at Panther Stadium, but the Panthers played a very good game.

"We didn’t expect to make the playoffs this year, but we did," MCHS first-year head coach Todd Starr said following the game. "We played a very good game against a good team. The kids played one of their better games of the season."

The Panthers advanced into the playoffs by virtue of a one-point differential between Montrose and MCHS. According to CHSAA rules, if the Panthers beat a 5A school they are awarded 3 points. If they beat a 4A school they are awarded 2 points. The Panthers’2-1 win over Fruita-Monument on Oct. 6 put Cortez into the playoffs. Cortez had tied Montrose on Sept. 9 and lost to the Indians 1-2 on Oct. 10. Montrose beat Cortez, a 4A school, but lost to all the 5A schools. Thus Cortez, despite a 2-1-11 mark, wins the points 3-2 made the playoffs.

The last time Cortez advanced into the soccer playoffs was a home match two years ago at Alamosa. It also went five years ago at home against Gunnison.

The Panthers were probably caught looking when Berthoud scored its first goal, just over a minute into the game. Cortez got caught flat-footed with no coverage on the weakside of the field. Berthoud’s David Baxter sneaked in a shot into the goal.

But from that point on, the Panthers played evenly against a much bigger and more physical Spartan team. Cortez managed several shots on goal from Jeff Yarbrough and Cody Beaver. The Panther offense moved the ball well most of the time and the defense played with a lot of intensity. Berthoud had some problems with pass and support on offense and played a lot of kick ball during the early goings.

Berthoud did continuously pound at the goal with about five minutes gone. Steven Rewerts and Shaun Green booted the ball several times at the Cortez goal, missing high or wide. Cortez, at that point, was not pressuring on defense.

It looked like Berthoud had scored a goal 16 minutes into the game. But it was called back when the ball was out-of-bounds. Cortez played with renewed enthusiasm and moved the ball back into the attacking half of the field for nearly the remainder of the half. Aaron Phelps managed to get off a shot but he just missed the mark. But with just a little more than two minutes to play the Spartans scored. A ball got away from a Cortez player and went out-of-bounds deep in Cortez territory. The ball was tossed in by Berthoud but they went O.B. again with Berthoud in control. This time the ball was tossed in and Green got free and kicked the ball in for a 2-0 score.

The Panthers came out determined to play solid defense and they did. They just missed scoring a goal early when the ball hit the upright goal post. Cortez made a shot after shot on goal. Joe Siracusan just missed sending the ball into the net off a free kick. With Cortez still keeping the ball in the attacking half, Siracusan made a perfect pass to Beaver who shot the ball into an open goal about 22 minutes into the game.

Cortez just missed a shot from the corner. Siracusan made a long shot but it missed. And Cortez made a couple more shots at the end but the balls missed.

"We dominated in the second the half. We had our chances but we couldn’t finish," he said.

"This was a good way for the boys to end the season. No one thought we would be here (in the playoffs) and they played well. We will back. As for the season, frankly we are where we thought we would be. We lose only two seniors (Siracusan and Beaver). Most of our team is composed of freshmen and sophomores. We have a lot to look forward to in the seasons ahead. We’ve installed good defense, good discipline, and we’ve established a great foundation with which to build upon," he added.

Boys soccer is definitely on the upswing in Cortez.