THORNTON, Colo. — At Five Star Stadium in Thornton, the Legacy Lightning had plans to build on their unbeaten start to the 2022 season, but the Boulder Panthers stood in their way.
And it looked like Boulder would run away with the game to start. With under eight minutes to play in the first half, captain Logan Simms scored on a beautiful ball from 22 yards out to put the Panthers on top 1-0. Simms was the best player on the field in the first half, manning the midfield for Boulder. The Panthers added a second goal on a cross from junior Victor Torres to senior forward Oliver Tewksbury. He headed the ball in to give Boulder a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
In the second half, the Lightning came out ready to go. They controlled possession throughout and finally found the back of the net in the 10 minutes into the second half. Senior defender Parker Katz scored on a freekick to cut the Boulder lead in half 2-1. Then with 6:30 left on the clock, senior midfielder Cooper Stephens hit a similar shot as Gerber did in the first half for Boulder: 20-plus yards out. The game would be tied at two a piece.
Boulder came through clutch in the final moments, as Cameron Geber sent in a ball on net, it was deflected then senior midfielder Milo Toutenhoofd scored to give Boulder a 3-2 lead with 1:02 remaining on the clock.
The Panthers would hold on to beat the Lightning by that score. Boulder advances to 4-2-1 while Legacy suffers its first loss of the season and drops to 6-1.