Stanley's sudden-death OT penalty kick gives Pueblo West S-CL title, 4A playoff berth

Apr. 14—Logan Stanley had a plan.

The Pueblo West High School senior stood at the 10-yard line on the turf at Dutch Clark Stadium with a chance to give the Cyclones a league title and a berth in the Class 4A state boys soccer playoffs.

In sudden death overtime, no less.

Lining up for the penalty kick 15 minutes into overtime, Stanley approached the ball, dribbled to his right and unleashed a blast past South goal keeper Kevin Barrios that found the back of the net.

Game over and mission accomplished.

The penalty kick won the game 2-1, clinched the South-Central League title and thrust Pueblo West into the 4A playoffs.

The Cyclones (8-0-1) still have one game left against East on Saturday at Cyclone Stadium to wrap up the regular season. The Colts (6-2-1) finish the season at Dutch Clark on Saturday against Central.

The match was essentially for the league title, as the teams had tied 2-2 in their previous outing. A South win would have given the Colts an inside track to the league title, while Pueblo West needed to either win or tie to have a shot at the crown.

Here are three takeaways from Tuesday's decisive match:

For much of Tuesday's game, it appeared Gavin Graham's goal off an assist from Bradford Goodrich 6 1/2 minutes into the game was going to hold up for the Cyclones.

Pueblo West dominated play from the outset, winning most 50/50 balls and keeping South's offense at bay.

In fact, the Colts managed just five shots on goal through the first 79 minutes, and none of those were great chances. But they still trailed only 1-0.

Then, with just a minute left to play in regulation, Jovan Sanchez unleashed a kick from his side of midfield toward the goal. Pueblo West keeper Wilder Unwin appeared to make the save, getting his hands on the ball. But it popped up in the air and South's LJ Oliva bodied the ball in for a goal to knot the game at 1-1. The game eventually went into overtime.

"It was a really good shot," Unwin said of Sanchez's shot. "It was really powerful, and it was going in. I got a hand to it and I couldn't bring it in. (Oliva) ran through me. I couldn't do nothing about it.

"It works. Anywhere you can score, you do it. Especially if a keeper fumbles it, that's how you want to score."

Stanley revealed his plan for scoring the game-winning goal in the second overtime period.

"I like going more right side, but don't tell any goalies that," said Stanley, who admitted it was his first winning goal of his career. "I can go both (sides), I was just going to where I can place it well.

"I only scored three goals (in) my first three years. I haven't been a goal scorer at all and definitely not closing games out. It's nice this year to get some results."

Stanley felt his team dominated play but couldn't put the Colts away until the ultimate game winner off his foot.

"I was surprised the score was close," he said. " I wish we would have finished our chances and it would have been 5-0 and we could have gone home real easy.

"I think the better team won today. But South put up a good fight."

Both coaches gave credit to the Colts and how hard they played.

"These guys knew what was at stake and knew what they were fighting for," South coach Dustin Ethridge said. "I can't say enough about these guys, the heart they have, the heart they came out and fought with.

"We had nothing to lose, and these guys understood that. The way they battled from start to finish, no complaints.

"i think we did a good job at limiting their chances. Forcing them a certain angle and taking away their angles at the goal. All credit to our defensive effort."

Pueblo West coach Eric Young said it was a true battle, as South made his team truly earn the win and league title.

"Unfortunately we didn't play with real good effort in the first half," Young said. "I feel like the intensity we had in the second half and the overtime, if we do that, more likely we can get ahead and one mistake doesn't make such a difference.

"A high ball like that is hard to judge. The goalie makes the first save, and no one else on our team was there to clear the ball. South had one player, and we had no players. We just had a lapse for a moment.

"We had a lot of chances, created a lot of opportunities. But you have to give credit to South. They worked so hard and their intensity was good. They were missing a lot of players and they outworked us in that first half."

Ethridge, though, was proud of the way his team responded to West's constant pressure.

"Pueblo South is here, and we're here to stay. We've got a culture built with this program. And we have guys finally buying in to what we're trying to do and the style of soccer we're trying to play.

"To get a couple statements and to prove not only to the city but ourselves that we can compete with any of these teams — that's the biggest takeaway.

"I'm extremely proud of these guys. We've had adversity after adversity, and the way these guys have responded from the start of the season to the end, all credit to them."

There was plenty of credit to go around for South, but it's the Cyclones who are ultimately moving on after a S-CL classic on the pitch.

Chieftain interim sports editor Jeff Letofsky can be reached by email at jletofsky@chieftain.com or on Twitter: @jeffletofsky