SPORTS

Soccer: Adams City poised for another run at state 5A title

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

AURORA – Adams City’s soccer team was hanging onto a state tournament slot as of Oct. 21.

The Eagles, who lost to Hinkley 2-1 in Aurora in the regular-season fi nale, were in 31st place in the Ratings Performance Index, one of the criteria to determine the 32 postseason qualifi ers.

The draw was due Oct. 25, after press time (visit twitter/com/sportsland for updates), and fi rst-round games are Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Hinkley scored the fi rst two goals of the Oct. 19 match in the fi rst half, then withstood a late charge from the Eagles for the win. Josue Rascon, a sophomore forward, scored Adams City’s goal with about six minutes left. The game ended as Hinkley goalkeeper

Ernesto Burciaga Garcia booted the ball to safety in front of an onrushing Eagles’ player.

“We always talk about it being a numbers game,” Eagles coach Kevin Davis said. “Opportunities crate chances to fi nish. We’ve been awesome the entire season. We’re averaging 20-plus shots per game, which is unheard of, but that’s the style we play. We have a core of technically sound players.”

Suncor Air Monitoring Print Ads.pdf 2 8/10/21 10:38 PMEight of the Eagles’ players are wrapping up their third year of varsity level soccer. “We have the best player in the league (Diego Flores, 19 goals, 13 assists, 51 points), and we have the best goalie in the league (Adrian Arriaga, goals-against average of 0.588 in 15 games),” Davis said. “So that kind of helps.” Davis said his team didn’t execute the game plan.

“We knew what we were coming into. They were getting some of their stronger players back,” the coach said. “We struggled in the beginning. As the game went on, we started to fi nd our style of play. It was too much to try and come back from a two-goal defi cit.”

ACHS fi nished 12-3, 6-2 in the Eastern Metro Athletic Conference. It’s the fi rst time since 2012 that Adams City won as many as 12 games in a season. The Eagles won 14 contests in 2012 and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs. A state tournament berth would Adams City’s Omar Rivera, left, and Hinkley’s Olisa Uloko jostle for the ball along the be the second for ACHS in as many sidelines during the teams’ game at Hinkley Oct. 19. PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH years. “We don’t care who we play,” Davis said. “These kids have been playing soccer all their lives. Once the whistle blows, it’s who can break each other down and create opportunities to fi nish. It just speeds up in the playoffs. Slowly but surely, we’re turning the program back to where it used to be and into a winning tradition.”

Hinkley’s Sammy Acosta and Adams City’s Efren Vidana chase down the loose ball during the teams’ Oct. 19 match at Hinkley. The Thunderbirds won it 2-1.

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Local matchups Soccer

Pairings for the state 5A soccer tournament were due out Oct. 25, after press time. First-round games are set for Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Volleyball

PVHS turned back Adams City 25-23, 25-13, 25-10 in Brighton Oct. 21. Michelle Escamilla led the way with eight kills. Allyson Jagger and Avery Witzke of the ThunderHawks were next with fi ve kills.

No stats were available for Adams City.

Prairie View High School Volleyball

Prairie View stopped Hinkley in straight sets Oct. 19 in Aurora. No set scores or stats were available.

PVHS turned back Adams City 25-23, 25-13, 25-10 in Brighton Oct. 21. Michelle Escamilla led the way with eight kills. Allyson Jagger and Avery Witzke of the ThunderHawks were next with fi ve kills.

No stats were available for Adams City.

Soccer

Gateway blanked Prairie View 4-0 in Aurora Oct. 21.

All four of the Olys’ goals came in the fi rst half. No stats were immediately available. The ThunderHawks fi nished with a record of 5-8-1.

Cross country

GREELEY -- No one from Prairie View High School qualifi ed for this year’s state 5A cross country meet.

The top fi nisher for the girls team was McKinsey Poulson, who took 44th in the class 5A Region 4 meet at Monfrot Park Oct. 21 with a time of 22:03.5. Others who ran for the ThunderHawks were Isabella Lopez (58th, 23:28.6) and Kayla Martinez (70th, 25:51.9),

The top fi nisher on the boys side was Kaleb Price, whose time of 18:42 was good for 52nd place. The other point-producers were Kevin Martinez (54th, 18:57.2), Gavin Walker (68th, 20:11.9), Martin Delgado-Navarez (72nd, 20:37.5) and Daniel Garcia (77th, 21:05.1).

Football

Prairie View just did slip by Denver East 28-27 at All-City Stadium Oct. 22.

No stats were available for the ThunderHawks. Angels’ quarterback Dylan Wigglesworth threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns. Berto Zepeda caught two of those touchdown tosses and fi nished with 118 receiving yards.

Adams City High School Cross country

BROOMFIELD -- Adams City’s Tati-Anna Avitia took 83rd in the girls race at the class 5A Region 3 meet Oct. 21. Her time was 29:03.3.

Alex Meyers took 78th in the boys race, posting a time of 23:58.7.

Football

FORT COLLINS -- Fort Collins quarterback Andrew Seest threw for 124 yards and three touchdowns as the Lambkins beat Adams City 42-12 Oct. 21. Dontay Johnson caught two of the scoring passes and fi nished with 55 yards in receptions.

No stats were available for the Eagles.

Volleyball

PVHS turned back Adams City 25-23, 25-13, 25-10 in Brighton Oct. 21. Michelle Escamilla led the way with eight kills. Allyson Jagger and Avery Witzke of the ThunderHawks were next with fi ve kills.

No stats were available for Adams City.

WORLD CUP

are expected to submit bids. Ten will make the fi rst round of cuts.

Eventually, three cities will win out, organizers said.

Matthew Payne, the executive director of Denver Sports, said Denver has hosted other big-time sporting events, including this summer’s Major League Baseball all-star game.

“We have the infrastructure. We have the stadium, the hotels, the arenas,” he said. “We’ve hosted high-capacity matches at Empower Field at Mile High (where most of the matches would take place). It’s a global city. When people visit, businesses often end up here.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City has hosted World Cup qualifying events, including a snowstorm-laced contest in 2013 between the United States and Costa Rica. But the home of the Colorado Rapids isn’t part of Denver’s bid.

“It’s not large enough,” Payne said. “With the anticipated crowds, we’d need a place that seats above 50,000 people. The average attendance in 1994 (the last time the U.S. hosted a World cup) was 70,000. Dick’s could be used as a training site.”

Rodriguez said the economic benefi t to the area could approach $360 million from hotels, restaurants, lodging and tourism-related activities.

“We have 52,000 hotel rooms and 12,000 in the downtown core,” Payne said. “Most are within walking distance of the stadium. Think of the number of hotels that weren’t here four years ago. Then think of the number of hotels that will be built between now and when the World Cup comes.”

“In 2026, the fi eld expands to 46 teams. Folks who travel to see their teams play have economic power,” Rodriguez said. “They come for days at a time. Some come for weeks.”

Area taxpayers won’t have to foot a bill, other than buying a ticket of admission.

The altitude isn’t as big a problem as one might think. Rodriguez said three cities in Mexico are higher in elevation than Denver. The weather could work to Denver’s advantage, too.

“Denver has unique things to offer,” Rodriguez said. “We have the best airport in the world. If you think about some of the coastal cities in New York, Miami, they have higher humidity. Our average temperature is in the 80s. It doesn’t rain a lot in the summer here.”

Soccer is the No. 1 participatory sport in the state, thanks in part to youth soccer, he said.

Y c e ab t local news. So do we.

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TRIVIA

1. TELEVISION: What was the name of Jay’s dog in “Modern Family”? 2. MEASUREMENTS: How many pecks are in a bushel? 3. GEOGRAPHY: Which continent has regions in all four hemispheres of Earth -- north, south, east and west? 4. MUSIC: Which singer is known as the Queen of Disco? 5. U.S. STATES: Which state has the only royal palace in the United States?

6. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE:

How many federal holidays are recognized by the United States? 7. ASTRONOMY: How many moons does Mars have? 8. MOVIES: Which iconic movie has the tagline, “A man went looking for America, and he couldn’t fi nd it anywhere”? 9. FOOD & DRINK: Which minerals are found abundantly in dairy products? 10. COMICS: Which longrunning comic strip developed from a weekly panel titled “L’il Folks”?

Answers

1. Stella 2. Four 3. Africa 4. Donna Summer 5. Hawaii, Iolani Palace 6. 11 annually, with Juneteenth as the most recent addition, and 12 every four years, with Inauguration Day as the additional holiday in Washington, D.C. only. 7. Two, Phobos and Deimos 8. “Easy Rider” 9. Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium 10. “Peanuts” (c) 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.