As Harrison players left the field at halftime down 1-0 in the Class 3A boys state soccer playoffs in October, Emmanuel Sanchez remained poised.

The 1-0 deficit evoked a painful memory for Sanchez that he didn’t wish to relive.

In 2022, Sanchez’s junior year, Harrison nearly captured its first-ever boys soccer playoff win, but Frontier Academy scored a goal in overtime to send the No. 25-seeded Panthers home with a 1-0 loss.

Sanchez harbored that pain from the postseason loss as fuel for offseason motivation.

“We knew we could go far but it was a matter of how hard we were willing to work for it,” Sanchez said. Not just to make it back to the playoffs, but to win a game and proceed to the next level. In the offseason, me and the team were doing a lot of cardio. That helped us a lot to start the year. I don’t know if the teams we faced didn’t take preseason seriously or if their workouts weren’t as hard as ours, but we were a lot more fit, dedicated and more disciplined than them.”

Panthers boys soccer coach Bridger Stapleton recognized Sanchez’s hunger in the offseason to lift the Panthers to a historical year.

When Sanchez wasn’t working his job at McDonald’s, he practiced his footwork and shooting at Harrison.

During preseason workouts, Stapleton also noticed Sanchez blossom into a vocal leader who was learning to guide and direct teammates with his off-the-field actions.

“He was always there ready to rock at practice and he started taking the mentorship role and we had a great core of seniors who embraced that as well,” Stapleton said. “He’s been vital in building the team culture in the locker room. At camp this fall, Manny was the last one to bed because he wanted to share all the stories and continued to build those relationships with guys. He was one of the first guys up leading the pack in our 6 a.m. run. … I think that showed his character.”

Sanchez’s chance to lead Harrison on a playoff run started when he declined an opportunity to play club ball for the Colorado Pride Switchbacks, a United Soccer League team. Although it was an opportunity to build his soccer resume, he said “we had unfinished business.”

“I had a talk with Stapleton and told him I wanted to play high school ball and wanted the experience of playing the full four years,” Sanchez said. “A lot of the boys looked up to me and when I told them I had this option, a lot of them wondered what they would do if I left since I was a role model last season. I was like, ‘I have to stay for my boys.’ We have so much potential and playing together as a team is what got us so far last year.”

The Panthers defense looked ferocious all season and allowed just nine goals in 15 games – nearly half the 17 that Harrison’s stout defense allowed in 2022 in 16 matches.

Meanwhile, Sanchez led the charge on the attack and tallied near identical numbers to his junior season.

Sanchez ended his junior campaign with 66 points (26 goals and 14 assists) and finished his senior year with 62 points (26 goals and 10 assists), which ranked fourth in 3A.

At Woodland Park in their first-round postseason match, though, Harrison’s near-flawless defense gave up a goal late in the first half, the Panthers’ first score allowed in three games.

And Sanchez, who led the Panthers in total goals in three of his four seasons on the pitch at Harrison, couldn’t find the net in the first half.

As Sanchez and his teammates walked toward Harrison’s designated area at halftime on a frigid afternoon in Woodland Park, Stapleton’s words ignited the Panthers senior.

“When we went down 1-0 (this year against Woodland Park) Stapleton was like, ‘Be calm and play your game,’” Sanchez said. “He said he wanted us to start playing our game because we were playing down to their level instead of up to ours.”

As he had during the offseason, Sanchez buoyed the Panthers and helped steer Harrison toward success as he knotted the game at 1-1 with 36:11 left in the second half.

Freddy Flores followed with the go-ahead goal 61 seconds later to give Harrison a 2-1 lead they never relinquished.

When the buzzer rang on the field, Harrison players bolted toward their visiting fans in the bleachers to celebrate and show their gratitude.

Sanchez said he wouldn’t trade that memory for anything.

“That victory was a relief and playing with that team – they’re my family – we fought for each other and even though we trailed, we got two back,” Sanchez said. “We wanted to return to the playoffs, and win. It was a lot of hard work in the offseason and it paid off. It was an amazing feeling to make history at Harrison.”