Eagle Valley soccer blanks Coal Ridge Tuesday night
GYPSUM — Eagle Valley soccer bounced back in a big way, blanking Coal Ridge, 3-0, on Tuesday evening at John Ramunno Field.
This was the just the right tonic after what could have been a devastating loss last week to Glenwood Springs during overtime.
“It’s early in the season and it would be easy to find excuses,” Devils coach Bratzo Horruitiner said.
Against Glenwood, the Devils (1-1) seemed to do everything except outscore the Demons. Horruitiner said his guys were pressing too much, and that leads to mistakes.
On Tuesday, the Devils just played the game.
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“Today, we just calmed down and opened by moving the ball left and right,” Horruitiner said. “We had some piece of mind, and we went to work.”
And the Devils got their big names on the score sheet. Aldo Palacios headed in a beautiful corner kick from Aaron Ledezma. Palacios then fed Ledezma for a 2-0 lead.
In the second half, the youngsters took over. Jorge Portillo scored his first varsity goal on an assist from sophomore Carlos Nevares.
It’s worth noting that Eagle Valley lost to Coal Ridge, 5-1, last year, so Tuesday’s game was measurable improvement.
The win is also a big lift going into today’s game, when the Devils host the Battle Mountain Huskies at 6 p.m. in this year’s first edition of “The biggest game in the history of everything … until the next one.”
Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley split last season, which was notable because Eagle Valley hadn’t beaten Battle Mountain since 1999. The Huskies, off to a 2-0 start with wins at Montrose and Delta, will be out for revenge this year. Eagle Valley wants to prove last year wasn’t a one-time event.
Softball winning
PALISADE — Eagle Valley softball was leading Palisade, 3-2, in the bottom of the sixth inning and then the skies opened on Tuesday.
The game was suspended and the rest will be played as part of a pseudo-doubleheader on Sept. 24, when the Bulldogs and Devils are scheduled to play their league game in Gypsum.
Eagle Valley (1-0) is next in action at Rifle on Tuesday.
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.
