NIWOT -- Niwot defeated Centaurus 4-0 in the wind and cold in the opening round of the boys 4A state soccer tournament on Wednesday.
With the victory, the Cougars advanced to face No. 22 Castle View Saturday at home.
Midfielders Santiago Velez and Edison Bailey led Niwot with two goals each -- with Velez striking twice in the first half and Bailey twice in the second.
Niwot came out firing early. A shot from Bailey ricocheted off the left post but Velez trapped it and fired it into the corner of the goal in the seventh minute.
"It feels good to get the first round under our belt," Niwot coach Steve Lepper said. "We settled some of the nerves after that first goal and then, you know, kind of settled in and played our game."
Sixth-seeded Niwot (13-2-0) controlled the ball for much of the game, limiting Centaurus' opportunities while putting the pressure on Centaurus keeper Victor Lopez and the Warrior defense.
In the 39th minute, Niwot was penetrating again when a Centaurus player ran into the ballhandler just outside of the penalty box. Velez took the free kick and scored.
"We were pumped," Velezsaid of coming into the first-round game. "I feel like we came out strong."
Niwot played the first half with the wind at its back, prompting Centaurus coach Ken Ebersole to wonder if the weather played a factor in kick-starting Niwot's momentum.
"First half, maybe if we had been with the wind it would've been different," he said. "To Niwot's credit they took it to us, worked hard and you've got to give it to them."
The second half was the Bailey show, even with the wind in his face.
In the 62nd minute, Bailey took a pass from forward Sean Casmey and buried it in the back of the net. An assist from Eric Nuechterlein set up Bailey's second goal in the 76th minute to ice the game.
"It's our home field and we want to protect our home field," Bailey said.
Bailey recognized the competition was about to get much tougher.
"We got a lot of chances today, you know. We might not get that many chances against a better team so we need to work on finishing I think," he said.
Lepper said that preparation one game at a time was the key to the win.
"We weren't looking past Centaurus," Lepper said. "They were a top ten team at the beginning of the year, obviously well-coached and they've got really good players on their team. We were ready, we came prepared, we came fired up."
It was a tough loss in an already difficult season, Centaurus coach Ken Ebersole said.
"We had a lot of ups and downs, it was a struggle to get in the playoffs," he said.
Centaurus, which finished the season 6-8, beat D'Evelyn 2-1 to edge its way into the state tournament.
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