Scott Kaniewski

With the playoffs looming, the Heritage High School boys soccer team couldn’t afford to look ahead, not with Continental Conference leader Ponderosa still on the schedule.

But the Eagles took care of that challenge, handing Ponderosa its first league loss of the season in a 2-0 victory.

The win continued a seven-game unbeaten streak that began on Sept. 29 and has yet to end. Over those seven games, the Eagles have allowed just one goal, and that coming in a 5-1 win over ThunderRidge.

“We’ve done really well,” said Heritage coach Tony Hurt. “We had a tough loss early in league to Mountain Vista. Since then we’ve gone on a seven-game undefeated streak.”

Heritage had one final game to play in league, a makeup game against Chaparral, when the paper went to press. If the Eagles win that one, they would win the Continental League title outright.

A league crown in the always challenging Continental Conference could go a long ways toward earning the Eagles another high playoff seed. Last year, the Eagles were upset in the second round of the playoffs, despite a No. 5 seed. The playoffs open Oct. 28, with the second round continuing Oct. 31.

“Given the fact that we’ve lost only one game all season long, with ties against Liberty and Arapahoe, I think we’re going to get a good seed,” Hurt said.

Striker Dan Goold leads the team with five goals. Reed Johnson’s fourth goal came against Ponderosa, and Tanner Swenson, Jordan Crum and Jake Peterson each have three goals.

The defense has led Heritage. Only four teams have scored against the Eagles, combining for seven goals getting into the Heritage net. Three of those came in an 8-3 shootout with Highlands Ranch. The Eagles are giving up 0.5 goals per game. And solid defense will carry a team deep into the playoffs.

“I’m really pleased where we are, going into playoffs,” Hurt said. “I’m pretty excited about what we might be able to do.”