The Rampart boys soccer team may have been the underdogs Thursday, but it played like they were the ones on top. 

In front of a loud Panther home crowd, No. 18 Rampart defeated No. 15 Harrison 3-2 to advance to the second round of the 4A Colorado High School Activities Association state playoffs. 

“We were super anxious coming in as the underdog and knew Harrison was a good team. Very fast and physical,” Rams (10-5-1) coach Karl Anderson said. “We were anxious, which is good. Coming in as underdog in the first round we just try to stick to our bases and what we are good at.” 

It was an aggressive game from the first whistle, with three of the goals at Harrison High School coming from penalty kicks, two for the Rams and one for the Panthers. 

“Always in the first round you will get tough teams,” Anderson said. “It was very physical tonight, fast play, so fouls will happen quickly. It gets more emotional and intense in the playoffs with fast and aggressive teams.

“It gets chippy and frantic, and I wanted players to keep a cool head. They did a good job at keeping Harrison out of the box and solidifying the win.”

Harrison senior Manuel Cuellar found the back of the net in the 11th minute to open scoring. But Rampart responded with a goal from senior Aiden Casperon about 10 minutes later to tie the game at 1-1.

The Panthers were fouled shortly after, and a penalty kick put the Rams up 2-1 in the 24th minute and for the rest of the half. Harrison (12-2-2) had a few scoring chances, but struggles with miscommunication on the field kept it scoreless for the rest of the half. 

“They came in with a lot of grit and passion,” Casperson said of Harrison. “We recognized that from minute one but didn’t let that affect us.”

In the 57th minute, Rampart senior Sebastian Collela was tripped near the Harrison goal box to earn a penalty kick, which was successful to put the Rams up 3-1. 

About 10 minutes later, Harrison’s Jose Pineda was injured and Cuellar took the penalty kick, which was first blocked, then fumbled, by Rampart’s goalie and Cuellar got the second-chance goal to close the gap to 3-2 with about 13 minutes left. 

A scuffle at the Rampart goal in the final minutes almost tied the game, but Casperson was able to block the scoring attempt to keep the ball in the Rams’ possession for the rest of the contest. 

After dropping its first round game last season, Anderson is happy to see his team move on and continue defying their underdog status. The Rams will play No. 2 Silver Creek on Wednesday. 

“We were a very low seed last year, but we sat better with this team,” Anderson said. “There is a world of change in attitudes and expectations from each other and for each other compared to last season. The second round is one of those things where it’s just fun. We have to come in and give 110% in the next game.”