Dick's Sporting Goods Park pitch will host the Colorado High School Activities Association soccer finals this weekend for "Championship Saturday."
Bayfield, unfortunately, was stopped short of contending for the ultimate prize in Class 3A, but in 2017 saw its program advance closer to such a goal (pun intended) than ever before.
"I wish there was a Team-of-the-Year Award, because I feel we'd deserve that too," BHS senior Tilden Berriman said Monday afternoon. "We stepped it up this year, everybody, and it definitely shows."
That would have to mean the Wolverines had first bagged other accolades, right?
And in the wake of a 12-4-0 overall record, and second-place 9-3-0 Intermountain League mark it was announced that BHS had swept the circuit's individual superlatives. BHS scored the #21 seed in the Class 3A State Tournament's opening Round-of-32-the squad. At an ice-cream social held last Saturday at the Bayfield Lions Club, the boys learned of their league awards.
Contending until the regular season's final week for the classification's goal-scoring title, Berriman was named the IML's Player-of-the-Year after totaling 20 goals and eight assists for 48 points.
"It really lit me up; I was pretty excited," he said, upon learning of his selection. "I mean, I worked for it, and it happened."
Senior Chad Winkler was announced as Goalkeeper-of-the-Year, having posted a 0.861 goals-against average-allowing only 10 goals (three via penality kick)-along with six shutouts.
"It means a lot to me; I put a lot of hard work into that," Winkler said. "But I also think it speaks a lot for Coach (Zac) Keeler because 'Bush' (then-senior Austin Bushnell) got Goalkeeper-of-the-Year last year. So that's 'two in a row' for Coach!"
And, as it was lastly announced, two in a row-meaning IML Coach-of-the-Year awards-for head coach Chris Zoltowski, now 16-11-4 overall and 12-9-3 against the league in his two seasons.
BHS had amassed a 9-71-5 overall (9-55-3 IML) record in the six years-three under predecessor Dave Foster, and the three before that under program bedrock Terry Spriggs-prior to his 2016 arrival.
"It's a great feeling to be awarded IML Coach-of-the-Year, especially among such high-quality coaches in this league-some of whom I have tremendous respect for," Zoltowski said. "It was a surprise to earn the award last year, and it was an even greater surprise to see it again this year."
"Chad has come a long way in a short season," he continued. "The one thing that stood out to me the most was how coachable he is. Coach Keeler also did a great job making sure we were able to get Chad game-ready with some one-on-one training. At the end of the day, intelligence is paramount in this sport and Chad proved that with this award."
"Tilden winning was due to his work ethic and dedication to this program. I was so happy to see him reap the benefits of his commitment. His leadership is a great reflection of this program."
All agreed that the awards couldn't help but boost said program's visibility in the future.
"This year, it seemed like so much more than a game," said Zoltowski. "They left it out there for their teammates next to them. It is a special feeling to witness the culture of this team as it continues to evolve."
"Especially with the rapid improvement we've had the last two years," Winkler said. "I think it shows just what we have going on and what we're capable of. I hope we bring more people in, looking to try to play on a team that has that sort of success behind them."
"We know all the little kids-a couple of us on the team have coached them-so they're all coming up, knowing who the team is or was," said Berriman. "Hopefully they'll follow in those footsteps."
EPILOGUE: Seeded sixth in the State Tournament bracket, Ridgway (11-1-0 IML) unfortunately fell-like the Wolverines-in the opening Round-of-32, 3-2 in overtime against #27 Salida, and finished 13-3-0 overall.
Winners at home over Bayfield, Delta finished 14-3-1 after upsetting 5-seed Denver Science & Tech-Stapleton in the 'Sweet 16' before losing 3-2 to #4 Colorado Springs Christian inside UCCS' Mountain Lion Stadium in the 'Elite Eight.'
Via a 1-0 upset of #11 Colorado Springs St. Mary's in the Sweet 16, SHS (10-7-1) also reached the quarterfinals before falling 4-nil at Denver-based Colorado Academy.
Initially awarded the 3-seed, CA (14-4-0) was to face #2 and three-time defending State Champion Englewood Kent Denver (16-1-1) in one Nov. 8 semifinal, while CSCS (16-2-0) was to battle 8-seed Fort Collins Liberty Common in the other with the winners squaring off on 11/11 in Commerce City.
The lone unbeaten remaining, LCHS (18-0-0) ousted 1-seed Broomfield Jefferson Academy (16-1-1) by a 2-1 margin in the quarters.
