The Pagosa Springs high school boys soccer team played in what could be their final game of the season on Friday afternoon in Fruita, logging a tie.
The Pirates took the bus to Fruita on Friday, Oct. 16, to take on the Fruita Monument Wildcats in their final scheduled game of the regular season.
The 4A Wildcats held a 5-6-1 record heading into the game. The two teams had split their previous two matchups.
Early in the game the Wildcats found the back of the net and took a 1-0 lead.
Despite having some opportunities to even the score in the first half, the score remained 1-0 as the two teams headed into halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Pirates started to possess the ball more and continued to move it throughout the midfield, coach Trevor Gian explained.
At one point in the second half, he relayed, Johnny Rodriguez intercepted the ball around the top of the box and played a creative pass to space in the top of the box. Oliver Samu gathered the ball on his left foot and buried it on the bottom right corner across his body to tie the game up at one goal apiece.
The Pirates continued to press after their goal and had multiple opportunities to score and take the lead, but couldn’t find the back of the net, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
“We had a lot on the line, and we went down 1-0, and finding that response again, sort of [the] story of the season, we responded well,” Gian said. “We had great opportunities to potentially win that game. [The] team played great, and it was a good game at the end of the day, [a] really positive feeling.”
With the tie, the Pirates have a 5-5-2 record and currently sit ranked 34th in 3A. The top 32 teams in 3A will make the playoffs, so the Pirates are on the outside looking in, but the rankings won’t be finalized until Sunday, Oct. 25.
In the meantime, Gian is working to try to find and schedule one more game before the regular season officially ends on Saturday, Oct. 24.
If he can’t find the Pirates another opponent, the team will have to rely on outside help to move into the playoff picture.
“We’re just trying to figure out [how to] keep these boys playing a little longer,” Gian said. “I think they deserve that.”
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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