Gore Rangers soccer doubles up at Aspen
ASPEN — Welcome back, William Sterret.
Vail Mountain School soccer welcomed back its senior keeper to the lineup Saturday and celebrated by defeating Aspen, 2-1, in nonleague play on the road.
“It’s great,” VMS coach Pete Petrovski said. “He brings another element of senior leadership. That gives us a senior in goal, a senior at stopper and a couple of other seniors on defense. The guys have confidence in him to guide them.”
This was Sterret’s first game since knee surgery, and in a delightful development, the Gore Rangers did not fall behind, 2-0, immediately. In fact, shock of shocks, VMS actually scored the first goal of the game when Clay Kirwood jumped on a ball rattling around inside the 18 and knocked it into the onion bag.
Tied at one, the game-winner was a thing of beauty. Watts Austen made a run down the flank, and Kirwood ran onto the ball slickly. Kirwood beat his defender in the corner and sent it out to Peter Ferraro at the top of the box. The freshman one-timed it into the net for his first varsity goal. File that under the category of “excellent timing.”
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The Gore Rangers are 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the 3A Slope. VMS hosts Roaring Fork at venerable Bandoni Alumni Field on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Like Saturday’s game, Tuesday’s tilt is a nonleague one.
Volleyball
Saints sweep Rangely
EDWARDS — Call it a good week for Vail Christian volleyball.
The Saints capped a 2-0 stretch in 2A Slope play with a 25-18, 25-15, 26-24 dusting of Rangely at the Wheeler Athletic Center in Edwards on Saturday. That leaves Vail Christian with a 2-1 mark in the league after a loss to Meeker last weekend.
“It’s learning how to overcome mistakes without messing up a whole game,” Saints coach Cathy Alexander said. “(Against Meeker), we would mess up a point, and it would take two or three points to recover. Now, it’s ‘That was a point. Let’s move on.’ That’s something we worked on before our matches this week.”
Celia Smith (11) and Taylor Alexander (10) led the attack in kills. Bella McCormick topped the Saints in digs with 17. Remy Beveridge had a solid game with 23 assists and 13 digs.
Vail Christian (5-3) is scheduled to host the Vail Mountain School on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Huskies nab Bulldogs
PALISADE — Down goes Palisade. Down goes Palisade.
Battle Mountain got a big monkey of its collective back Saturday knocking off two-time defending league champion Palisade, 25-19, 25-9, 25-12, Saturday afternoon in the Bulldogs’ home gym.
It’s early in the season, but this could be one of those matches one looks back on at the end of the season.
“It was a good win for the program, particularly for the seniors,” Huskies coach Jason Fitzgerald said. “This is the first time they’ve beaten Palisade and it means a lot to them. It was just another strong all-around performance.”
Battle Mountain is 2-0 in the 4A Slope and 3-1 overall. The Huskies host Glenwood Springs on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934 or via cfreud@vaildaily.com.
