The Summit High School boys soccer team may have had aspirations of hosting just one playoff game during the 4A state soccer playoffs, but the team will now get the luxury of hosting two.

After defeating Mead High School in overtime on Friday, Oct. 28, in Breckenridge, Summit traveled to Colorado Springs to take on the Cheyenne Mountain High School Red-Tailed Hawks on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

Summit entered the match as the underdog for the first time in the playoffs, ranked as the 14th seed and facing off against the No. 3 seed in Cheyenne Mountain.

Summit knew the team was beatable, though, after Cheyenne Mountain was challenged last Friday night by No. 30 Holy Family High School. 

Summit wasted no time trying to prove its worth to the talented 13-1-2 Cheyenne Mountain soccer team. In fact the Tigers stunned the Red-Tailed Hawks in the first half, heading into halftime leading 2-0.

“Going into halftime I felt very confident and excited that we had gotten two in on them,” senior Owen Gallo said. “But I knew that the job wasn’t finished and that they were going to come out super hungry.”

With momentum behind them, Summit tried to close out the rest of the game in order to advance to the quarterfinals of the playoffs, but, as Gallo alluded, Cheyenne Mountain had its own plans. 

Around the 15-minute mark of the second half, Cheyenne Mountain brought the score to 2-1 by sneaking a ball past junior goalkeeper Adboul Kane.

Cheyenne Mountain continued to press the Summit defense, and 10 minutes after the first goal, the Red-Tailed Hawks evened the score at 2-2.

“I think the team was a little down after we conceded two goals,” Gallo said. “But I think that everyone on the team knew that we were still in the game and had a very good chance at winning the game.”

The two goals may have shocked Summit at first, but the team remained stoic and resilient.

The focus from the entire Summit team resulted in an opportunity with six minutes remaining in the game. After receiving a pass from junior Jared Marcer at around midfield, Gallo dribbled the ball around to create space before scoring the game winning goal to defeat Cheyenne Mountain, 3-2.

Gallo finished the game with two goals and an assist, and junior Alexander Elsig recorded one goal. 

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Summit will now advance to the quarterfinals of the 4A soccer playoffs. The team will host Greeley’s Northridge High School on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. 

Seeded 22nd in the tournament, Northridge is on a playoff  run of its own. Northridge defeated No. 11 Golden High School in the opening round and No. 8 Silver Creek on Wednesday. 

With a win, Summit would advance to the final four, where it would face the winner of the match between Niwot High School and Northfield High School on Wednesday, Nov. 9.