WESTMINSTER — It wasn’t quite on par with an overly aggressive Dwight stealing the ball from his upstairs-office teammate Ryan while playing the warehouse guys in the “Basketball” episode of The Office.
Legacy’s Alex Kaup said he was simply trying to make a play inside the box when he realized he may have accidentally corralled the ball away from forward teammate Channing Schmidt — before scoring the go-ahead goal in the 68th minute of the Lightning’s 2-1 win over Erie at North Stadium on Thursday evening.
“Honestly, I thought I was going to score there,” Schmidt said with a chuckle, “but Alex made a great run and punched it in. I’m happy for him to get that goal.”
The whole thing didn’t segue into The Office theme song. Instead, it led to a third straight win for the Lightning (6-1-2, 1-0 5A Front Range League) and the first loss of the season for the Tigers (7-1-1, 0-1).
Schmidt scored his third goal of the season in the 47th minute for Legacy, answering Liam O’Munneke’s goal from the 43rd for Erie. Schmidt then pushed into the box looking for his second goal of the game but instead settled for his fifth assist of the fall.
“Channing was on the ball, being aggressive in the box area, which is always important for him,” Kaup said. “And then I kind of stole it from him there. … He really deserves credit for that one.”
WESTMINSTER: Erie’s Cael Ferrera strikes the ball against Legacy on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
WESTMINSTER: Erie’s Leo Hinojosa with the ball against Legacy on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
WESTMINSTER: Legacy’s Mario Langer (left) and Erie’s Tomas Olivares go for the ball on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
WESTMINSTER: Erie’s Leo Hinojosa (left) and Legacy’s David Parameswaran fight for the ball on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
WESTMINSTER: Erie’s Liam O’Munneke with the ball against Legacy on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
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WESTMINSTER: Erie’s Cael Ferrera strikes the ball against Legacy on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (Photo by Brent W. New/BoCoPreps.com)
The Lightning entered the day 11th in CHSAA’s 5A standings, while Erie was third.
The Tigers came into the day led by 5A’s points and goals leader Cael Ferrera, who tallied his 26th point of the season with a perfectly placed lead pass to O’Munneke for the game’s opening goal.
But Ferrera was largely contained by Legacy the rest of the way.
Erie’s senior captain called the Lightning the more mentally strong team afterward.
“It’s something we need to fix mentally,” said Ferrera, who has 11 goals and four assists on the year. “They came back from being down, and that’s something we need to work on there. But we have to look forward.”
The Tigers went unbeaten through eight nonleague games but got something of a reality check to start play in the FRL.
After a muddled first half, Legacy was clearly the better team after halftime. With the score tied 1-1, the Lightning were denied a go-ahead goal by a spectacular two-on-one save from senior goalkeeper Brendan McNeal. But the stalemate lasted only minutes longer before Kaup won it with his third goal of the year.
“Our league’s going to be tough all season,” Ferrera said.
Erie is at No. 36 Fossil Ridge on Tuesday, while Legacy is home against No. 22 Broomfield.