Prep previews: Can Battle Mountain soccer return to the state championship game for a third-straight season?

Battle Mountain has been on quite a run the last three years.

After a state semifinal appearance in 2021, the Huskies advanced to the finals as a No. 16 seed in 2022. While that Cinderella story ended with a loss to Northfield, the young, albeit talented Huskies ran the table last fall, exerting sweet revenge on the Nighthawks — who’d won 56 of their previous 57 games — in a 2-0 state championship game victory.

“We’re really proud of that, but what we recognize is that there’s a target on our back, for sure,” head coach Dave Cope said regarding the current outlook coming off the program’s second state title. “We’re not going to sneak up on anybody.”

Even though the Huskies will miss graduates Alexis Dozal, Leo Martinez, Cooper Skidmore, Jack Ruiz and Daniel Becerra — all key contributors from last year’s 18-1-1 team — they are more than equipped for a title defense. In fact, Battle Mountain returns 56% of its goals scored from 2023. Most come courtesy of incoming seniors Grey Glowacki and Charlie Strauch, as well as junior Jakob Methvin. Methvin, the returning 4A player of the year, spent the summer winning a Presidents Cup silver medal with his Vail Valley Soccer Club teammates, many of whom will join the Huskies this fall.

“Those kids had a great run all the way to the national final. That’s incredible,” Cope said. Other club players expected to immediately contribute include sophomore defender Anthony Sanchez, juniors Carlos Ventura and Alex Ortega and brothers Carlos and Diego Gardea.

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“Our kids have played a lot of soccer,” Cope continued, adding that his staff is trying to manage burnout and keep things fun while working hard. The team conducted two-a-days throughout the first week of practice.

“We’ve had a really great culture,” Cope said. “The boys are just so excited.”

With widespread star power, there’s no singular voice dictating the team’s tone.

“It’s really collective with this group,” Cope said. “Yesterday we talked about being selfless and everybody playing for each other. So, we’re hoping guys aren’t out chasing stats.”

Veterans Danny Sanchez and Jonathon Espinoza provide defensive anchors for the Huskies, who will have to at least begin the season without the services of Ezequiel Alvarez, their starting goalie the last two years. Alvarez, who allowed just 13 goals in 19 games last year, was injured over the winter. Cope said he’s unsure if the senior will be able to return to the field at all this fall. Stepping in is junior Anthony Raudales, a converted defender.

“He has a lot of IQ and soccer intelligence. He naturally defends the goal, sees the game in front of him and he had a great JV season under (assistant coach) Joel (Rabinowitz) last year,” Cope said of Raudales. The team’s goalkeeper trainer Jim Glendinning is another reason the coach has confidence in the transition.

“The beauty of high school athletics is this ‘next-man-up’ mentality,” Cope continued. “And we’ve always prided ourselves in this program of not relying too much on any one player and preparing the kids underneath to be ready to step in when they’re called on.”

Raudales will step right into the fire in Friday’s opening match. Battle Mountain — which enters the year as the No. 1 team in 4A — travels to face the No. 2-ranked 5A squad, Denver East. The Huskies defeated the Angels in the opener last fall.

“It was maybe the best regular-season win we’ve ever had in our program,” Cope reflected. “We enjoy playing them. They play a good brand of soccer and it’s a good test for us.”

Things don’t get any easier in game No. 2. The Huskies host Northfield, which recently reclassified to 5A, in their home opener on Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. They also travel to No. 2 Centaurus on Sept. 7 and welcome No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain to Edwards on Sept. 21.

“We’ve put together a schedule that will challenge every one of these players every single game,” Cope said.

Meanwhile, reclassifications have shrunk the Western Slope to a four-team league comprised of Glenwood Springs, Eagle Valley, Summit and Battle Mountain. The Huskies are at the Devils on Sept. 10 and host their I-70 rivals in Edwards on Oct. 3.

“No matter how you’re doing statewide, the Eagle Valley games are always a great atmosphere, a great test and a great example of high school sports,” Cope said. “We love it and we look forward to it.”

With Northfield — a team Cope called “one of the great teams of the last 20 years” — out of 4A, the coach believes several schools are salivating.

“I think there’s probably six or eight 4A teams that feel like this is their year,” he said.

Coming off a state championship, expectations are high in Husky town, too. It’s hard for the casual observer to divorce their definitions of success from another title. But Cope — even though he’s hung two banners in his 31-year career as the boys head coach — knows winning the last game of the season is rare.

“And pretty special,” he added. “But if we compete, game-in and game-out, then I think we’ll be on the right end more often than not.”

Still, his main goal for the team transcends trophies. Earlier this summer, the longtime coach was talking to former athletes from his 2006 team, many of whom were attending each others’ weddings.

“I mentioned it to these boys this summer that that’s what we want for you guys is just to make connections with each other and form these lifelong friendships,” he said. “If we strive and compete together, that’s where those friendships are forged.”