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Battle Mountain’s Davey DeChant, in white, jumps in front of Glenwood Springs players to score the first goal of Saturday’s game in Eagle-Vail. Glenwood won the game, 3-2, in overtime, likely ending Battle Mountain’s hopes of a fifth-straight title.
EAGLE-VAIL — There will be no five-peat.
Battle Mountain soccer’s reign at the top of the 4A Slope all but came to end Saturday as the Huskies lost to Glenwood Springs in overtime, 3-2, after leading 2-0 in the first half.
“It’s not mathematically gone, but it’s gone,” Huskies coach David Cope said.
Eagle Valley is in the driver’s seat for its first soccer title at 8-1-1 in the Slope, followed by Glenwood at 7-2-1 and Battle Mountain and Steamboat (both 7-3).
The Devils can clinch with a win Tuesday against Steamboat Springs under the lights at Hot Stuff at 6 p.m. or with a victory at Battle Mountain Thursday. In the unlikely event Eagle Valley loses its final two regular season games, Glenwood can clinch with wins against Palisade and Rifle next week, which is pretty much a certainty.
So Battle Mountain will be in the unusual position of playing for seeding in the state playoffs, instead of fighting for a title in the last week of the regular season. The Huskies are at Rifle Tuesday and close the regular season Thursday against Eagle Valley.
“I just think if an athlete has pride in themselves, they will play as hard as they can until the final game,” Cope said. “That’s the test. I remember we’ve had a lot of good teams which didn’t win league, but won playoff games. The 2003 team is great example of that. We’ve got an enormous amount of pride on the line.”
The Huskies led 2-0 against the Demons early on goals by Davy DeChant and Jack Sunderland, but allowed two quick tallies at the end of the half. Although the Huskies had their chances in the second half, they couldn’t convert. Jair Molina had a breakaway in overtime, but his shot went wide.
“He gets that opportunity 10 times, he’ll score on eight of them,” Cope said.
Battle Mountain soccer’s reign at the top of the 4A Slope all but came to end Saturday as the Huskies lost to Glenwood Springs in overtime, 3-2, after leading 2-0 in the first half.
“It’s not mathematically gone, but it’s gone,” Huskies coach David Cope said.
Eagle Valley is in the driver’s seat for its first soccer title at 8-1-1 in the Slope, followed by Glenwood at 7-2-1 and Battle Mountain and Steamboat (both 7-3).
The Devils can clinch with a win Tuesday against Steamboat Springs under the lights at Hot Stuff at 6 p.m. or with a victory at Battle Mountain Thursday. In the unlikely event Eagle Valley loses its final two regular season games, Glenwood can clinch with wins against Palisade and Rifle next week, which is pretty much a certainty.
So Battle Mountain will be in the unusual position of playing for seeding in the state playoffs, instead of fighting for a title in the last week of the regular season. The Huskies are at Rifle Tuesday and close the regular season Thursday against Eagle Valley.
“I just think if an athlete has pride in themselves, they will play as hard as they can until the final game,” Cope said. “That’s the test. I remember we’ve had a lot of good teams which didn’t win league, but won playoff games. The 2003 team is great example of that. We’ve got an enormous amount of pride on the line.”
The Huskies led 2-0 against the Demons early on goals by Davy DeChant and Jack Sunderland, but allowed two quick tallies at the end of the half. Although the Huskies had their chances in the second half, they couldn’t convert. Jair Molina had a breakaway in overtime, but his shot went wide.
“He gets that opportunity 10 times, he’ll score on eight of them,” Cope said.
