Flurry of first-half goals fuels Battle Mountain to rivalry win over Eagle Valley

Grey Glowacki and Jakob Methvin are always on the same page — on and off the field.

Battle Mountain’s dynamic duo set each other up for a pair of goals 73-seconds apart late in the first half to fuel a 2-0 victory over Eagle Valley on Thursday night in Edwards.

“We’re like best friends off the field, so we have a chemistry on the field,” Glowacki explained.

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“I think the way we find each other and knowing we can always roll off each other and look for each other — we’ve been playing together for a long time,” added Methvin. “I think it was a good game and I think Eagle Valley came and really showed what they have and played really well.”

Neither team manifested any significant scoring opportunities for most of the first half, but the Huskies made the Devils defense work.

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“You’ve got to give them credit,” Huskies’ coach Dave Cope said. “I think that’s the thing we talked about: if we’re patient in the first 20 minutes and keep the ball and make them work, the last 15 or so will be favorable for us.”

Battle Mountain’s methodical approach opened the door for an offensive onslaught late. In the 35th minute, Jonathan Espinoza sent a perfect through ball from the left sideline and Methvin used his superior speed to track it down. Eagle Valley’s goalie sprinted out to meet Methvin, who poked it over the top from straightaway for the game’s first goal.

Eagle Valley coach Pedro Alvarez hoped to convert the Huskies’ overloads into a counter attack, but the Devils found it difficult to execute their toil against the defending state champions.

“Yes, they dominated us,” the coach said. “We just couldn’t really keep the ball and connect those passes. We were organized on defense, but again, how long can you contain such a powerful team on offense?”

Not very long. A minute later, the Huskies were at it again.

Carlos Ventura hustled to save a pass from escaping out the Eagle Valley end line and reversed it stadium side, where Methvin worked his magic in front of a full student section. The junior deked by a defender and dished to Espinoza, who sent it right back on a give-and-go. Methvin one-touched it to Glowacki, who benefited from crashing to the center of the box with his 10th goal of the season.

“Jonny played it and then Jakob got a touch, tipped it to me and freed me,” Glowacki said. “And then I had the open shot for the goal.”

“They just read off each others’ runs really well,” Cope said of Methvin, Glowacki and senior Charlie Strauch — whom he dubbed ‘the three musketeers.’

“They see openings, they see gaps,” the coach continued. “And so it’s one of those (things) where we’re methodically keeping possession, possession, possession and then change the tempo quickly and go to goal.”

Cope said the second half was more about game-management. The Devils, meanwhile, went on the offensive.

“We had to be a little bit riskier by trying to press and hopefully create a mistake on their defense while playing from the back,” Alvarez said. “(Battle Mountain) was very composed. Kudos to them.”

The Devils’ best look might have come in the first 90 seconds of the second, when Marco Rosales burst through a hole in the Husky defense and fired a shot from 30 yards out. Ultimately, Battle Mountain goalie Anthony Raudales got the save and would go on to preserve his third shutout of the season.

“It feels great,” the goalie said. “It’s amazing not letting a goal in against a rival.”

Raudales has gradually improved since stepping in for injured starter Zeke Alvarez.

“At first I was struggling,” he said. “You know, I was still trying to get confidence and later on in the season, I started getting more. I’m doing way better now.”

With the best view in the house, Raudales assessed his team’s play this way: “They moved the ball around, side-to-side, they did the runs like we practiced and yeah, just the defense, making sure I didn’t get any shots on goal.”

When the final buzzer sounded, Glowacki, Methvin and Strauch met at midfield with friends from the student section. After linking up ideas on the field, they had one more plan to collectively carry out. They ripped off their jerseys, revealing the names of their respective — and prospective — homecoming dates on their sleeveless undershirts.

With their fifth-straight win, the Huskies improved to 7-3 overall and 5-0 in league play.

“October is here. Now is when you really got to be fine-tuning your game and your rotations,” Cope said. “It was fun today. I felt like we controlled the game pretty well.”

Eagle Valley slid to 5-4-1, but Alvarez is hopeful his team can end its four-game losing streak over the final month.

“We’ve got five more games,” he said. “We’ve got to see what we can do with them.”

Battle Mountain turns its attention to another rivalry game: the Huskies visit Vail Mountain School next Tuesday at 4 p.m.

“They don’t scare me,” Methvin said of the Gore Rangers. “We’re not worried about them.”