Battle Mountain soccer star breaks single-season scoring mark in rivalry win over Eagle Valley
Jakob Methvin scored four times to fuel the Huskies' 4-2 win
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
Jakob Methvin has had his way with Eagle Valley this year. Check that: the Battle Mountain senior has had his way with just about everyone.
“That’s what’s amazing about his scoring record,” head coach Dave Cope said. “He’s doing it against the No. 2 team in 5A, Northfield, Denver East. … obviously, we would like to get some other guys scoring, but we’d also rather have him on our bench than their bench.”
Methvin walked onto his team’s new turf for Friday’s rivalry rematch in Edwards needing one goal to break a tie with Dani Barajas and Joe LyBarger and claim sole possession of the program’s single-season scoring mark (24). The senior notched number 25 in the first half and proceeded to score three more in the second to guide the Huskies to a 4-2 win over the Devils. LyBarger, a member of the Huskies’ 2012 state championship squad, was in the stands watching the homecoming win, Cope noted.
While Methvin was the star of the show, it was the Devils who jumped on the board first at the tail end of the 11th minute. First, Marco Rosales took on four players deep into the right corner. Then, he passed it out to Boris Gavrilov, who dished it from stadium sideline to Felipe Meneses just outside the center of the 18-yard-box. The senior made a beautiful one-touch pass back out to Alfonso Gallegos, who rocketed the one-timer from 25-yards out past goalie Luc Glendining into the right corner.
“He just hit it perfectly,” said Devils coach Bratzo Horruitiner. “That’s becoming our strength: playing possession, fast-paced, penetrating the middle. So, it was a gorgeous goal.”
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The Huskies retaliated with 26:37 left in the first half when Antonio Escalara chased down a Xavi Velles through-ball along the far sideline and perfectly centered it with his inside foot to Methvin, who tapped in from the opposite post. After the score, the senior had the entire squad rowing the boat in the end zone celebration. Even though he’s regularly stuffing the “goals” column of the stat sheet, Methvin unselfishly searched all night for assists, too.
“He’s really integrating other players on the team, trying to keep them involved,” Cope stated. “He created a couple that really should have been assists for him, but we didn’t finish.”
Throughout the back-and-forth first half, Eagle Valley strived to stifle the speed of their opponents with a high line.
“We were off-side a whole bunch, but a high line has to be perfect and it has to work the whole game,” Cope said. “At halftime we said, ‘the longer the game goes, the better it is for us.’ Our kids are really fit and we tend to control the ball, and that’s fatiguing on the other team.”
While the 1-1 stalemate held for almost 40 minutes, eventually, Battle Mountain broke through. With 18:19 left in the second, Fernando Lucero found Methvin for the go-ahead score. Five minutes later, Lucero found his teammate again, setting up Methvin for his sixth hat trick of the season.
Eagle Valley wasn’t done, though. Rosales responded with a goal of his own 30 seconds later.
“We were trying to attack them,” Horruitiner said, noting that a missed opportunity inside the 6-yard box early in the second could have changed everything.
“It’s a different game if you’re ahead,” he added. “But man, it was a fun game. We have a young team and the team is learning and this was great exposure for everybody. I think it was a good show.”
The Devils kept things interesting until Methvin put the nail in the proverbial coffin with his fourth goal in the 77th minute.
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Photographer Rex Keep captured Friday’s homecoming festivities at Battle Mountain, from parades, players and performances to a rivalry rematch.
Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
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Rex Keep/Courtesy photo
“I hate to lose, but sometimes it’s how you lose,” Horruitiner said after his team fell to 6-4-1 overall and 1-2 in the Western Slope. “The boys created chances. We have to capitalize (on) the chances. (Battle Mountain) is efficient.”
The Devils return to the pitch Monday and Tuesday for matches against Summit and Delta, respectively. They close out the year at Summit after fall break and at Glenwood Springs on Oct. 23. Horruitiner said the goal for the No. 17-ranked Devils is to secure at least one home playoff game. The top-16 teams earn that right in the first round.
“You have to win every single game you can. And that’s our goal,” the coach said.
The Huskies (8-2-2 overall, 6-0 league) close out the year with a senior night game against Vail Mountain next Tuesday before contests against Pine Creek on Oct. 17 and No. 1 Mullen on Oct. 25. Cope said the goal is to secure as many home games as possible for the playoffs. Being a top-four team gets you three.
“We’re always keeping an eye on that,” he said. He’s also well aware of another important trait of team’s destined to make deep runs: being able to come from behind.
“If it happens, those regular-season games are reference points we can draw on,” he said. “I thought our kids responded really well when they went down a goal.” And as special as Methvin’s scoring talent is, Cope has seen unlikely heroes emerge in both of his state title wins. In the 2023 victory over Northfield, neither leading scorer Alexis Dozal nor Methvin scored goals.
“When you get into those late-round games, it can be unusual suspects,” the coach stated before adding a caveat.
“But if we’re picking teams,” he continued. “I’d be happy to take Jakob.”
