COLORADO SPRINGS – When opportunity knocked at Ethan Merrigan’s door a second time he answered in a big way.
The Forge Christian forward smacked a goal early in the second half, propelling the Fury to a 1-0 victory over Salida in the Class 2A boys soccer state championship Friday night at Weidner Field.
“It (the ball) just popped out right on the line and I had to stick my foot in there and that’s all it took,” said Merrigan, a senior. “Priceless.”
Forge Christian, formerly known as Faith Christian, won its sixth boys soccer state title in school history and first since 2011.
Forge Christian, the No. 2 seed in the state tourney, finished its magical season with a 14-2-3. Salida ended its campaign with a 14-2-3 record. The Spartans were playing in their first state boys soccer championship since it won its lone state crown in 2004.
The first half served up some scoring opportunities for both teams but neither could capitalize.
Salida thought it had a goal by Hawkin Sather at the 22:15 mark, but the goal was waved off because the Spartans were offsides.
Forge Christian finally got its offense going and Wyatt Arter nearly broke the scoreless bout, but his free kick hit the crossbar at 19:42 of the first half.
Late in the opening half, the Fury had another grand scoring chance when Merrigan went from his right to left foot from 10 yards out but pushed his attempt over the crossbar.
Following halftime, Forge Christian kept attacking and finally broke the scoreless tie with Merrigan’s clutch boot with 31:55 remaining.
“I sure was glad when Ethan scored,” Coach Arter said. “We have had a couple of games like that where they were a little frustrating where we can’t find the net, we can’t find the net, we can’t find the net. When we first found that net, it relieved some stress for sure.”
Merrigan was optimistic if he and his teammates kept pushing the action a goal would come.
“This group right here is brothers to me,” he said. “We work hard, and we want it, and it showed this season. This (Weidner Field) was fast, and we made the most of it.”
With five minutes remaining, FC went into a defense mode to secure the win.
“We just sat back and put four in the back, and we didn’t what we had to do,” Merrigan said. “Who knows how we will celebrate but it will be a fun ride home (back to Arvada).”
Salida had won eight games in a row and four via shutouts before Friday’s loss.
“You don’t know what is going to happen in the playoffs,” said Salida’s Sam Jones, a junior. “We all came in this game believing that we were going to win. I’m so proud of every single one of us. We gave our heart out on the field. At the end of the game, we almost got a couple in the back of the net.
“(Late in the game) we switched our formation just trying to get as many attacking players up there as possible. It was unreal. My heart was beating. We almost got there.”
