Dempsey, 'Stangs beat Creek ... again
Senior defender's goal on a free kick during one of our frigid, spring snowstorms is the difference in a 2-1 victory in league semis over the Bruins; match vs. Grandview will decide the Centennial tourney title.
There was a lot going on for Mullen on Thursday.
Both the match time and site had been changed multiple times. The weather threat was real – the match was played in sub-40-degree temperatures and the promise of rain and snow came to fruition just after halftime. There remains a fair bit of uncertainty as to how the Class 4A Mustangs can properly qualify for the playoffs competing in a 5A-based league under the stricter guidelines of this new and shortened Season C.
Plus, the opportunity to defeat Cherry Creek twice in a single season made it about as enticing as it gets for Mullen athletics.
And it did.
Behind goals by Andrew DeBerardinis and Cole Dempsey, the Mustangs beat the Bruins 2-1 in the Centennial League semifinals of the new loop tournament and were bolstered by its best student section of this unusual season in a 1:30 p.m. starting time. Mullen improved to 8-1 and will meet Grandview in the title game. It’s scheduled for Saturday, 2 p.m., at Legacy Stadium in Aurora … weather pending, of course.
As for head-to-head meetings, the Mustangs have beaten Cherry Creek twice in a row after going 0-9-2 against Colorado’s largest school since 2009.
“Yeah,” said Dempsey, a senior defender and captain, “I’ve never beaten (the Bruins) and to do it twice in a year is something special.”
What’s not to like, Mustangs head coach Matthew Guglielmo was asked.
“Everything is to like,” he said. “You know, they have this thing in athletics, right? It’s hard to beat someone three times. We beat them twice in a season. We’re in the final … I think games like this -- they’re a demonstration of character. Defense is a demonstration of character. That’s one goal in 80 minutes against them.”
In the first half, DeBerardinis, a junior, gave Mullen a 1-0 lead off a crossing feed from sophomore Ethan Lehman.
“Honestly,” the midfielder said, “ I was just to the right of the box and tried to settle, and a get a shot off. And I hit a corner, I guess.”
Getting the first goal was imperative, DeBerardinis agreed, as “once you go down 1-0, it’s hard to come back and get two before they can get one.”
The Bruins got one in the 39th minute, right before halftime, against Mustangs sophomore keeper Mitch Ringman, seeing action after regular minder Andrew McGrath had an injury issue from practice.
As for the game-winner, Dempsey, off a direct free kick as things turned a bit testy down the stretch, rifled and bent one into the far corner in about the 78th minute (the field clock wasn’t working).
“I was thinking ‘Put it on frame,’” Dempsey said. “I said ‘Let’s give the team a chance,’ and I put it on frame. Lucky enough, the ground was wet with the snow and it just skipped and bounced in.”
Mullen protected the rest of the way and will meet Grandview, also 8-1, which downed the Mustangs 3-0 on April 8. For what it’s worth, the Wolves are ranked fourth in 5A; the Mustangs 7th in 4A.
“We played well,” Guglielmo said. "And we made a couple of halftime adjustments.
Dempsey, happy to have a parka draped over his shoulders afterward, said going to the league title game “is amazing for us, especially given the circumstances this season. It’s definitely possible for us this year.”
MULLEN 2, CHERRY CREEK 1
Cherry Creek 1 0 -- 1
Mullen 1 1 -- 2
Mullen Scoring
Andrew DeBerardinis (Ethan Lehman); Cole Dempsey (unassisted).
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