Battle Mountain girls soccer win season opener over Summit
Ledezma’s hat trick leads Huskies over Tigers
Battle Mountain kicked off the girl’s soccer season in style Tuesday night in Edwards, streaking to a 4-0 victory over the Summit High School Tigers.
“I thought it was a great start,” head coach Dave Cope said. The longtime coach has been pleased to see “desire and togetherness” from his team, which has been willing to practice in a myriad of early season conditions as snow and cold one day is often answered by sun and warmth the next. “One thing I really admire about the girls is our flexibility and our versatility.”
In about as perfect weather as can be requested in the mountains in mid-March, Cassie Ledezma scored three goals in front of a large crowd to lead the Huskies.
“Cassie was great. I thought she was opportunistic today,” Cope said of the three-sport athlete.
Her two first-half scores sparked an early lead for the home team. She struck first 9:30 into the first half and followed it up 12 minutes later with a shot from midfield that snuck past goalie Sarah Pappas, who appeared to be sizing up a downfield pass when the ball slipped past her extended right foot.
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“It’s funny with strikers — sometimes it doesn’t come for a long time and then a few come all at once,” Cope chuckled.
“I’ve put more work into it,” Ledezma said of her off-season improvements.
“I worked a lot harder with all my running and whatever we did, whether it was something small or something big.”
She completed her hat trick off a corner kick deflection with ten minutes remaining in the game.
“I’m so happy for her,” Cope said of the three-goal night.
“That one in the second half is what we need from her. She’s a strong girl and when the ball is bouncing around in the box you’d just like to see her get through people, find the ball and keep it on target, so that was great.”
Molly Reeder juked the Tiger keeper and dropped a pure left-footed goal into the side netting with three minutes remaining to sweeten things even more and finish off the 4-0 victory.
“That’s the way to respond if you don’t start a game is step on the field when you’re called on and stick it in the back of the net and then see what happens the next game,” Cope said of Reeder’s play.
Battle Mountain finished 5-3-2 in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Their coach is optimistic about the team’s chances in 2022.
“We beat the team that won the league, which was Steamboat, so we feel like we were right in the mix at the top of our league,” Cope said, noting he has once again put together a tough non-league schedule to help bolster the team’s RPI.
“This year, with the players we bring back, we’re just hoping with a little bit of maturity we can challenge at the top of the league.”
