Battle Mountain soccer draws in Montrose, 1-1

MONTROSE — Both Battle Mountain and Montrose soccer were looking for their 10th win of the season, and neither got it.

The Huskies and Indians played to 1-1 draw in Montrose on Saturday in a matchup of perennial playoff powers.

The bigger question remains, “Will Battle Mountain make the playoffs?”

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A record of 10-4 after this game would look better than the Huskies’ 9-4-1 mark, but Battle Mountain has made a point of having a very stout nonconference schedule, something that all involved hope is notice when it comes to the seeding committee in one week.

“I think coming here and getting a draw is a credible result,” Huskies coach David Cope said. “Montrose is going to finish with 10 or 11 wins. I think beating Evergreen, drawing with these guys and then losing to (The Classical Academy), 2-1, speaks well. A lot of teams got beat heavily by TCA.”

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TCA is 13-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state in the latest CHSAA poll, so that is, by no means, a “bad“ loss.

But 10 wins would just make Battle Mountain feel better going into Seeding Sunday next week. The chance for a 10th will come on Wednesday when Summit County comes to town at 6 p.m.

After a scoreless half in Montrose — in which the Huskies hit the iron twice and the Indians once — Battle Mountain’s David Ortiz and Tony Luevanos combined for a vintage overlapping run. Luevanos knocked the ball to an onrushing Creek Kamby for a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute.

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Montrose countered in the 62nd.

Your unsung hero of the day is Taylor Staughton, who cleared a ball off the goal line during overtime.

“Montrose was already celebrating,” Cope said.

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.