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Huskies booters hope Round 2 is Golden

Chris Freud
Bret Hartmam/Vail DailyEmily Lybarger, left and Battle Mountain girls soccer takes on Golden in Round 2 of the 4A state playoffs today at 5 p.m. at the North Area Athletic Complex.
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EAGLE-VAIL – Welcome home, Alexis Guinn.Battle Mountain’s starting goalie will be on familiar ground when the Huskies head to Golden today 5 p.m. at the North Area Athletic Complex (NAAC) for Round 2 of the 4A state playoffs.”I was pretty pumped up to play Golden because that’s where I went my freshman year,” she said. “Back to the home turf. Back to the ‘hood, just kidding.”What’s no joke is that Battle Mountain is turning around to play Round 2 just 48 hours after squeaking by Thomas Jefferson Tuesday in Edwards. The Huskies had hoped for a Friday game, but no fields were available.”I think in a way, it’s good because it grabs our attention right away,” Huskies coach David Cope said. “Both teams were in a game (Tuesday). Theirs was 2-0. Ours was 3-2. There’s a lot of similarity in the day we had. It’s exciting. There’s no time to get nervous.”

We can assure you that senior Kelsey Abbott doesn’t have a case of the jitters.”I was actually taking a nap before practice and I had to wake up to 3:30 snowstorm and I figured that I shouldn’t even come to practice because a better way to spend our time would be napping.,” she joked. “There’s not much you can do a day before a game. We had our meeting. We discussed our tactics. Today, all we can really do is run through patterns of stuff we hope we can do tomorrow. It’s all mental from here.”Yet there is a lot on the line today. First, a win would put a Battle Mountain soccer team into the quarterfinals for the first time. Second, a win would be No. 15, a school record for any soccer team.While Golden wears maroon and while – and surprisingly not gold – the Huskies just might as well be looking at themselves in the mirror.Consider:– Battle Mountain is 14-2. The Demons are 13-3.

— Golden has 12 shutouts. The Huskies have 10.– Golden has a 13-goal scorer in Allison Jones. Battle Mountain? Fourteen from Kelsey Sanders.– The Huskies topped Summit, 2-0. The Demons took the Tigers, 3-0.– Guinn and Killion Hunn have allowed nine goals. Golden’s Dana Garrett has surrendered six.This one should be a tight, defensive battle.



There’s also the factor of playing at NAAC.”We played Conifer there with the boys a few years ago,” Cope said. “It’s a beautiful stadium. Even if these girls play in college, it could still be the nicest stadium they ever play in in their careers. It’s a soccer-specific stadium. It’s wide. It’s the kind of stadium that MLS should be played in.”Just for kicks: To go to the game, take Interstate 70, to the Highway 6 Golden/ Lakewood exit. Hwy. 6 west becomes Hwy. 93, going north. At 64th Ave., take a right. The pitch is behind the football field. … In 3A soccer, Basalt just squeaked by Machebeuf, 2-1. Denver Christian crushed St. Mary’s, 4-1. The two teams face each other in the quarters. … In the 4A playoffs, there was only one minor upset in Round 1. No. 17. Regis beat No. 16 Evergreen, 1-0.Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 614, or cfreud@vaildaily.com.Vail, Colorado


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