Wiegand’s PK sends Centaurus to win over Lutheran

LAFAYETTE >> Demitri Wiegand was in full redemption mode when he lined up to take a penalty kick late in Centaurus’ second-round Class 4A state tournament game on Wednesday.

After missing a critical PK in the Warriors’ second-round loss last year, Wiegand didn’t let disaster strike twice as the senior hit the bottom-right corner of the net, giving Centaurus its ultimate 2-1 lead over Lutheran.

“When the team needs a goal, I guess I’m that guy,” Wiegand said with a smile following his gamewinner.

Centaurus head coach David Wood said there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Wiegand would come through.

“I wasn’t concerned,” Wood said. “He’s very reliable and he has a great head on the shoulders. I was confident he was going to score.”

With a home win over No. 15 seed Lutheran now secured, the second-seeded Warriors will next host No. 7 Steamboat Springs in the Class 4A state quarterfinals on Saturday. Centaurus beat Steamboat 5-0 in early September — an annual nonconference matchup — but have never faced Glenwood Springs.

The Warriors still took a moment to enjoy a second-round win that eluded them last year.

“For the group of guys that were here last year, it means the world to us,” said senior goalkeeper Garrett Pugh. “Going past where we were last year, that feels so amazing. Now we got three more.”

Centaurus improved to 15-0-2 — the program’s most wins since 2017.

A rarity as of late, Centaurus scored early when Sebastian Kemp assisted Max Spear in the box for an 11th-minute goal. The first-period score was Centaurus’ first since Oct. 11.

“We talked about it before the game that we really wanted to score early and set the tone,” Wood said. “We were really happy when he was able to do that.”

Later in the first period, Centaurus had a flurry of scoring opportunities but couldn’t cash in. The Warriors fired off two quality shots, including one that hit the top crossbar, and failed to convert a free kick all within the final two minutes.

After nearly falling behind 2-0, Lutheran answered back with authority in the second period when

Blaise Richard scored on a breakaway that forced Pugh to leave his net.

From then on, however, Centaurus’ defense kept Lutheran quiet long enough to set up Wiegand’s gamewinner. Pugh shared that lessons learned from last year’s postseason helped the Warriors get over the second-round hump.

“Last year really gave us (an idea of) what the playoff experience was and how to improve on what we were doing,” Pugh said. “Having that learning experience from last year is going to push us even further this year.”