Battle Mountain beats the cold and Devils

EDWARDS — All that balmy weather in February? You really didn’t think it was going to last?

On a bitterly cold night, Battle Mountain girls soccer shivered its way to a 5-0 win over Eagle Valley on Tuesday night in Edwards.

“All day, we were looking outside and it was snowing,” Huskies senior Emily Cope said. “We were checking the weather and there was a 50 percent chance of snow. Yeah, we were very cold starting the game.”

And if the meteorology thing doesn’t work out for Cope, the soccer path is still viable for her as she had two of the Huskies’ five goals on Tuesday night.

The lesson from Summit

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While the score was decisive, there are a lot more similarities than differences when it comes to the local 4A rivals.

In their second game of the season, both are trying to figure out their identities. Battle Mountain had 59 of its 79 goals graduate last spring, primarily in the form of Logan Nash, Morgan Croke, Acacia Ortiz and Molly Phannenstiel. Likewise, Eagle Valley needs to find a new source of offense for the departed Mariel Gutierrez (37 goals).

“Without a dominant goal scorer like we’ve had the last couple of years, we need to be more creative of how we get players into the box, how we get people open,” Huskies coach David Cope said. “I thought we did a nice job of that in the second half, getting those goals from inside the box, instead of those long bombs from outside.”

Yes, the Huskies were likely snapping off shots too early and from too far a distance, but when Emily Cope rips one, that’s probably OK too. She struck in the 10th minute that way to open the seal.

Avery Weaver made it 2-0 in the 22nd, but, as the Huskies learned in a 4-2 win against Summit last week, the game is not over at two scores. Battle Mountain let the Tigers back into the game, and was determined not to let that happen with the Devils.

“I think we definitely learned from that goal,” Weaver said. “When we started the second half, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Every minute of the game matters.”

Cope to Dylan Barker started the second half and then No. 5 got her second of the game. Valentina Montenegro finished it off with a late tally.

Devils optimistic

For Eagle Valley, it’s important to remember that the Huskies didn’t play this game entirely in the Devils’ end. Eagle Valley (1-1) had chances and is building under new coach Maggie Sherman.

Despite being in some transition, the Devils played with the three-time defending league champions.

“I think it’s good that they saw the pace, the quickness of pace, the way they’re organized,” the coach said. “It’s huge to see what that looks like and use that as a focus for our next games. Picking up our speed of play will be big for us.”

Eagle Valley is already in the win column this year with a 3-2 victory against Delta last week. And the Devils are right back at it on Thursday when they host Glenwood Springs.

“I’m really happy with the fire that they had and the willingness they have to try new things,” Sherman said. “Getting that attack going will be crucial as the season goes along.”

Battle Mountain (2-0) gets Summit County again on Friday.