Battle Mountain boys soccer beats George Washington to advance to 4A state quarterfinals

Jakob Methvin’s feet accounted for a program-best 32 goals during the regular season. In Wednesday night’s matchup against George Washington, his arms did most of the damage. Most.

In the 22nd minute of the 4A state tournament second-round game, the senior heaved a throw from the near corner to inside the box. Fellow four-year veteran Carlos Ventura elevated for a header into the net as the Huskies cruised to a 3-0 win.

“It’s kind of always been something,” Methvin said of the aerial connection. “Carlos has been doing awesome. He knows how to go up and get that ball.”

“It’s been going on all throughout, since freshmen season, even club,” added Ventura, who scored twice in the victory.

The No. 19-seeded Patriots — who came back from a 2-0 deficit in the final 15 minutes against Eagle Valley in last week’s opening-round game — slowly built confidence in the final 10 minutes of the first half. With 5:50 to go, a shot from 25 yards out was barely saved by the right post.

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“They’re a good team,” said Battle Mountain coach Dave Cope, who preached a sideline sermon on the the inadequacy of a one-goal advantage. “I said, ‘You can’t sit on this. We have to go forward and get more goals.'”

Methvin answered the call early in the second. Eight minutes in, he launched another long pass to Ventura from the corner. While that header went off the post and out, the Huskies were chomping at the bit — or howling at the full moon, rather. With 30:35 left on the clock, the team’s all-time leading goal scorer chased down a through ball. George Washington goaltender Blu Novak cheated up, but Methvin beat him to the spot and carried it near side.

“I was trying to center it and I didn’t see anyone there,” Methvin said. “So I cut it back and aimed for that far corner.”

With the window of an empty-net opportunity quickly closing, Methvin’s lefty rocket drilled the post and ricocheted in for the 2-0 lead. Three minutes later, the Huskies added to the advantage.

Carlos Gardea won a ball in the middle of the field, turned and fed it left to Antonio Escalara, who made a one-touch pass to Ismael Quezada. Quezada didn’t hold onto the ball long either, dishing to a streaking Ventura inside the 18. The senior finished the job to put the proverbial nail in the coffin.

“That was a thing of beauty,” Cope commented.

Luc Glendinning and the defense proceeded to shut out the deflated Patriots over the remaining 27 minutes.

“I’m really happy defensively that we didn’t allow a goal. You’re going to need at least one of those in the playoffs,” said Cope, who praised Diego Gardea as one of the unsung heroes in the middle.

“I thought he did an outstanding job at defensive midfield just locking things down and winning balls,” the coach continued. “All that dirty work you don’t see in the stat book — but I thought he held us together in a lot of ways.” 

“It was good. Everyone played their part from the bench to the fans, to everyone on the pitch, everyone who came on — our coaches,” Ventura said in summarizing the effort. “We’ve been practicing moving the ball and today we showed it; we showed we could keep a ball and make a team move side to side.”

No. 3 Battle Mountain will face No. 6 Greeley Central on Saturday in the quarterfinal round. The Wildcats — the only undefeated team in 4A — defeated D’Evelyn 3-2 on Wednesday. For the second-straight year, the Edwards school will turn into playoff central, as the girls volleyball team will be hosting the 4A Region 8 tournament that day as well.

“It’s such a cool opportunity for these kids to play in playoff games at their own schools,” Cope said. “It’s really a privilege and they need to make sure they value that.”

Ventura and Methvin started their prep careers with back-to-back state final appearances before getting ousted in the semifinals last fall. The senior leaders emphasized work ethic as the critical component to another deep run.

“Just staying together and putting in the work,” Ventura said.

“Working hard at practice,” Methvin reiterated. “And when we show up at the games, start with intensity and play with intensity all 80 minutes.”