Niwot boys soccer returns to action following short offseason

Just about four months separate the Niwot Cougars from the heartbreak they endured in the Class 4A boys state soccer semifinals, bumped from fall to spring in the 2020-2021 school year. That is all in the past, though, with a new core of Cougars greeted with the chance to mold their own history.

Head coach Stephen Dimit will be tasked with replacing the production of eight graduated seniors that accounted for nearly two-thirds of the goals scored last season. Fortunately for Dimit, the players he's now calling on to step up experienced the "whirlwind" of a postseason run a short time ago.

"It's irreplaceable to have a program here where that's just a regular thing," said Dimit, who enters his sixths season of head coaching duties. "To always have guys with playoff experience and always be able to return guys who have been under those bright lights, that's unbeatable. It gives you the edge in so many ways later on in the season."

Niwot's leading scorer Azael Marrufo had the edge over most defenses last season and he returns for his ultimate senior ride. Marrufo tallied 11 goals and three assists and will be relied upon heavily on offense once again.

"He's almost impossible to defend because he's making it up on the fly," Dimit said. "On top of that, he's an outstanding teammate. He's not always the one who's looking to score the goals, but he's always looking for that second runner to see if he can actually feed a guy through."

Senior Kaiden Waterman, who was seventh on the team with five goals, will be a target Marrufo will rely on during a scoring attack. Dimit was pleased with the growth Waterman displayed last season, especially in a few big games.

"He came on really well last spring," Dimit said. "He fought through the crowded roster to claim a number of starts. He scored a playoff goal and he had a really, really good season as a junior. I'm expecting big things. He has the capacity to score some really amazing goals."

Joining Marrufo and Waterman on the list of impactful returning players are seniors Jacob Elston and Julian Biscaldi. With such a talented senior class last spring, Dimit said most of these returners weren't necessarily relied upon then, but they're now eager to lead the show.

Back in net will be junior goalkeeper Javier Amaya, who shined with a season-high seven saves in Niwot's semifinal loss to Windsor. Amaya will be reinforced by junior Matthew Hansen.

"The two of them are just lights out," Dimit said. "We couldn't ask for a better goalkeeper situation here because those two are great teammates for each other and they compete so hard in practice. They both just want to win games."

Dimit said his players' summer focus was on becoming better athletes and getting stronger in the weight room. Niwot concluded tryouts on Aug. 11 and began team practices the next day.

It will be a challenging beginning of the season for Niwot, which opens with four road non-league games. The Cougars will face Air Academy on Aug. 25, Skyview on Aug. 30, Northfield on Sept. 1 and Palmer Ridge on Sept. 11. Their 4A/3A Longs Peak League slate will begin at home with Roosevelt on Sept. 14.

"The first four games are really, really tough but they're tough on purpose because we're trying to prepare for that league schedule," Dimit said. "We're always hungry to go out and see where we stack up against some of those teams that we know are going to be in the playoffs."

In the lower levels, Niwot's junior varsity team will be coached by veteran Brett Butrik, and C team will be led by Raeanne Sanchez.