The seniors on the Lewis-Palmer girls’ soccer team won’t be the only Rangers on the field at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park participating in their final game.

Long-time Lewis-Palmer coach Joe Martin will be on the sideline for the final time.

Martin has been coaching at Lewis-Palmer for 14 years – six years as the girls’ head coach and another seven with the boys’ team.

“There are things happening personally and I need to spend more time with the family,” Martin said Tuesday night. “I’ve been coaching 30 years. These last seven I’ve been doing both boys and girls so it’s been year round. . I love being with the kids, that’s what I’m going to miss most.”

It’s a heck of a team to go out with for Martin. After falling in penalty kicks a season ago in the 4A state championship game, Lewis-Palmer has dominated the 2016 season. The Rangers are 18-1. They swept the Pikes Peak Athletic Conference, going 7-0 and yielding just two goals in league play.

They earned the No. 1 seed and have backed it up. The playoffs have seen the Rangers outscore their opponents 15-0. They’ve given up seven goals all season.

A state title would be the icing on the proverbial cake.

“It’s the way every coach would like to see it for their seniors,” Martin said. “You want them to have a great memory of how they finished their season. You want them to leave a legacy for the younger girls.”

A title won’t be easy. The Rangers are taking on No. 7 Valor Christian (16-3). The Eagles easily knocked off No. 2 Wheat Ridge 4-1 in the quarterfinals. Then they came right back and shut out No. 3 Windsor, the team that eliminated 2015 champion Cheyenne Mountain.

“They’re a good team, well-coached,” Martin said. “It’s going to be a fight tomorrow. The girls are going to have to come out and fight for what they believe in and what they want. It’s not going to be handed to them.”

The Rangers already had plenty of motivation to claim a state title after coming so close a year ago. Not that they needed it, but wanting to send their coach out with a victory is just a little more of a boost.

“We definitely want to get that win for him so he’ll leave the team knowing he accomplished a lot,” senior Sarah Lyons said. “And not just our team but throughout the years. We want him to go out with a bang. Who wouldn’t? We want to do this for him.”