The Colorado Academy boys soccer team clearly stated its goal at the outset of the season. The Mustangs declared they had every intention of winning their last game.

Of course, in order to achieve such a thing a team must run the table in the playoffs. So far, Colorado Academy has done just that, and the Mustangs will have an opportunity to reach their season-long goal when they take on upstart Hotchkiss in the Class 3A state final at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the North Area Athletic Complex.

Hotchkiss, the eighth seed, has eliminated top-seeded Colorado Springs Christian and fourth-seeded Fountain Valley en route to its first championship match appearance.

“There is still one more game. We haven’t finished it in the least bit,” Colorado Academy goalkeeper Bobby Thalman said. “We’ve still got to come out and play Hotchkiss and win that one more game.”

Colorado Academy (16-3-0) has won seven consecutive games since losing a regular-season match against league rival Denver Christian, which also eliminated the Mustangs from the state tournament last season.

But Colorado Academy finally got past its Denver Christian hurdle by winning a rugged semifinal match against the Crusaders in a penalty-kick shootout Saturday. Corralling their emotions in the wake of that monumental win will be one of the Mustangs’ biggest challenges Tuesday night against an undefeated Hotchkiss team they admittedly know little about.

“I had one of my assistants watch them (in the semifinals) and they are very good dribblers, very good at possessing the ball,” Colorado Academy coach J.C. Pritchard said. “They shut you down very quick and don’t give you any time. They’re kind of like a Cinderella story. They just kind of came out of nowhere. They haven’t lost, and what fears me the most is that we’re playing an undefeated team."

Hotchkiss (15-0-4) has not scored less than three goals in any of its past nine games, and the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 17-1 in their past five games. Hotchkiss buried Fountain Valley with three second-half goals in its semifinal victory.

“To even make the playoffs is huge and every game is big,” Hotchkiss coach Elaine Wood said. “It just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. This is a dream come true for all these guys. We need to keep it together and keep it under control.”

Both teams will be missing key players who received two yellow cards during the semifinal matches, resulting in automatic one-game suspensions — senior midfielder Alex Quinonez of Hotchkiss and Colorado Academy junior midfielder Roman Vakilitabar.